Academy 5i. Administrator Guide

Transcription

1 Academy 5i Administrator Guide

2 Copyright 2017 Skillsoft Corporation all rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Skillsoft Corporation 107 Northeastern Blvd. Nashua, NH Skillsoft ( ) "Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries." Dreamweaver is a registered trademark of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Adobe and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Sound Forge Audio Studio and Sound Forge 7.0 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Pictures Digital Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and other countries." All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including Photocopying or recording, for any purpose without the express written permission of Skillsoft Corporation. This document is provided for information only. Skillsoft Corporation makes no warranties of any kind regarding the Skillsoft Corporation software, except as set forth in the license agreement. The Skillsoft Corporation software is the exclusive property of Skillsoft Corporation and is protected by United States and International copyright laws. Use of the software is subject to the terms and conditions set out in the accompanying license agreement. Installing the software signifies your agreement to the terms of the license agreement. 2

3 Table of Contents Getting Started... 8 Administrator Help... 8 Skillsoft Technical Support... 8 Recommended System Requirements... 9 Description of Administrative Functions Users Demographic Groups Content Reports Setup Compliance Enhancements Additional Resources Course Restart Request Approval for a Course Restart Questionnaire Survey Tool Questionnaires Catalog Page Create a New Questionnaire Reviewing Questionnaires Dashboards Users User Information Adding New Users User Status Learning Plan Assignments Exemptions and Equivalencies Exemption and Equivalency Expiration Edit Exemption/Equivalency Information Individual Completions User Reports

4 User Report, User Report, Learning Plan Demographics Define Demographic Category Editing Demographics Deleting a Demographic Assigning Demographics to Users Demographic Groups Create a Demographic Group Delete a Demographic Exemptions and Equivalencies (group) Learning Plan Assignments Edit Learning Plan Assignments Editing Demographic Group Due Dates Editing Demographic Group s Learning Plan Assignment Info (due date doesn t change) Inherited Learning Plan Assignments Stringency Assign Group Completions Content Library Searching the Library Adding a New Course Completion Dialogue Edit Course Information Course Info Course Inactivate Completion Criteria Curriculum Groups Create a New Curriculum Group Edit a Curriculum Group Delete a Curriculum Group Learning Program Creating a New Learning Program Copy a Learning Program Edit Information for a Learning Program

5 Edit Contents of a Learning Program Prerequisite Courses Equivalent Courses Equivalency Direction Reports Group Reports Completions Only Exemptions/Equivalencies Training Status User Report Completions Only Exemptions/Equivalencies Only Training Status Training Assignments by User User Report, Learning Plan Notifications Report General Administrative Reports Equivalent Courses (web only) Unused Demographics (web only) Demographics Summary Users by Demographic User Information Report (CSV only) Training Assignments by Demographic User with Individual Training Assignments (CSV only) Learning Plan Assignments Summary (CSV only) Completions Summary by Demographics for Required Courses (CSV Only) Prerequisites (Web Only) User Report, Group Report, Supervisor Report, Administrator Report, Invalid Report Saved Reports How to Run a Report Setup

6 Notifications Customizable Fields Types of Initial Training Notice Overdue Training Notice User Welcome Notice Custom User Non-recurring/Recurring Custom User Training Reminder Supervisor User Status Report Custom Administrator Non-recurring/Recurring Custom Administrator Training Reminder Custom Supervisor Non-recurring/Recurring Training Administrator Report Creating Custom s Configurations Setup Address Management News Feed Default News Feed Articles Creating and Deleting Articles Language-Specific Capability Site Configuration Logos Site Colors Activity Feed Security Setup Learning Plan Functionality Other Courses Retraining Curriculum Groups One-Time Only Training Exemptions/Equivalencies Removal of old course starts Glossary Appendix

7 Default Values Appendix Business Rules Appendix User Initial Notice User Overdue Notice Custom User Supervisor User Status Report Custom Supervisor Training Administrator Report

8 Getting Started Administrator Help This guide is intended to help you, the administrator, set up and manage your Academy. Information presented here will help you: Administer user information Make and edit learning plan assignments Create other courses for blended-learning programs Set up security levels and grant other administrators access to certain Academy features Grant completions for non-web-based (non-wbt) courses Assign exemptions and equivalencies Create and activate automated s for users, supervisors, or administrators Run reports You will have a Skillsoft team to help you with the Academy setup and functionality. Skillsoft Technical Support Skillsoft Customer Support provides 24/7 support to users and administrators. You can contact customer support by live chat or phone at You can also access the Skillsoft Online Customer Support site to search our solution libraries and FAQs, create a support case, or obtain a list of our international phone numbers. You can access these features at 8

9 Recommended System Requirements The Skillsoft site has been tested with the recommended minimum configuration available online in the Support Knowledge Base. Browser configurations, including tutorials on how to clear your browser cache, can be found in the Browser Configuration section of the Support Knowledge Base. 9

10 Description of Administrative Functions As the administrator, you will be able to customize your Academy to provide the flexibility and usability you need. A Skillsoft representative will work closely with you to achieve the desired level of functionality. The administrative function categories include: Users Under User Information, you can perform user-specific administrative functions such as adding new users, editing user information, making learning plan assignments, assigning exemptions or equivalencies, assigning completions, or running reports. You can also assign a language preference, change user status, and designate a user as a training administrator with a defined level of access to each administrative function. At times you may need to assign Exemptions or Equivalencies for requirements that have been assigned to individual users. Exemptions are typically issued when a user is part of a group, but does not need to complete one or more assignments. An equivalency is issued when a user has completed equivalent training. In Learning Plan Assignments, you will assign courses to users. You will make learning plan assignments to a demographic group defined by the demographics (e.g., job function, division, site, or a combination). If you have assigned a learning plan assignment with a delivery method other than Web-based training (video, classroom, CD, etc.), you can Assign Completions for each user. 10

11 Demographic Groups The Demographics function allows you to select/edit the user demographics to be used in your Academy. When selecting demographics, you are designating the type of information that will be associated with each user. The user demographics enable you to generate reports by this information and make learning plan assignments to a defined group of users. Examples of user demographics include site, job function, division, supervisor name, etc. Demographic Groups allow you to define groups of users by the appropriate demographic(s). Note: You must define demographics before completing learning plan assignments. At times, you may need to assign Exemptions or Equivalencies for requirements that have been assigned to groups. Exemptions are typically issued when a user is part of a group, but does not need to complete one or more assignments. An equivalency is issued when a user has completed equivalent training. In Learning Plan Assignments, you will make learning plan assignments to a demographic group defined by the demographics (e.g., job function, division, site, or a combination). If you have assigned a learning plan assignment with a delivery method other than Web-based training (video, classroom, CD, etc.), you can Assign Completions for groups. Content Under the content heading, you will find the Library link. The Library lists all courses in your Academy. It also provides a method to add non-web-based training (WBT) course titles to your online library. The courses can then be assigned as learning plan assignments. For example, you can add a video title or classroom training as a learning plan assignment. You can also create Curriculum Groups. The Curriculum Group feature allows you to organize your course offerings from an administrative perspective and from the way that users view their courses. A Curriculum Group may have a unique name and may contain several learning plan assignments that make up a curriculum. For example, you can have a curriculum group titled "Blood borne Pathogens" which contains the Blood borne Pathogens WBT, a video title, and a company policy. Curriculum Groups are assigned as a single requirement, and each item in the group will assume the same options (i.e., due date, passing threshold, validity timeframe). 11

12 Administrators can create a Learning Program, assign courses to it, and designate completion requirements, such as complete all, complete in order, and minimum duration in hours. A Learning Program can have multiple folders assigned to it, each with its own completion requirements. The assignment of a Learning Program will allow the Admin to follow the current Academy process of creating an assignment for a user or Group, and at the time of assignment set the conditions in which the Learning Program is successfully completed, such as type, passing threshold, number of days to complete the assignment, etc. You may create Prerequisites. Prerequisites provide a mechanism for Administrators to make assignments to be completed in a certain order. You can create a collection of learning assets with a defined structure and completion criteria. Lastly, you can designate Equivalent Courses. Equivalent Courses may be defined so that when one course is completed, the requirement for the equivalent course will be marked with an "EQ" and removed from the user's Learning Plan. Reports In this section, you can view or print training records for each user or a group of users. Setup Setup allows you to make decisions regarding the notification system and Academy security levels for different users and Administrators, In Notifications, you can choose to use notifications for users, supervisors, and/or administrators. You can activate default s, including Initial Training Notices for users, Overdue Notices for users, Training Status Reports for supervisors, or Training Administrator Reports. You can also create custom s for users and supervisors either as a one-time event or recurring s. Under the heading News Feed, you can upload and publish articles that will be displayed in the News Feed. Under Site Configuration, you can modify the appearance of the Academy to represent your organization by uploading a custom logo, changing the site colors, and by changing the number and/or type of activities displayed in the Activity Feed. Under Security Setup, you can designate levels of access to each of the administrative functions. For example, you can designate several administrators who will have varying levels of access to reporting, user information, learning plan assignments, etc. 12

13 Compliance Enhancements A course's completion status is checked when results are posted to the Skillport database. This typically occurs when a learner finishes a session and closes a course. The learner's results are compared to the course's completion criteria to determine the course's completion status. A course is either COMPLETE (the learner has met the criteria) or STARTED (the learner has started the course but not yet met the criteria). You can define global (company-wide) and course-specific completion criteria for Academy courses. Additional Resources Set Global Completion Criteria Set Course-Specific Completion Criteria Completion Criteria Settings 13

14 Course Restart If you have courses that learners need to complete on a recurring basis, you can select the Allow Multiple Completion option to partially automate the creation of new progress records for learners: If you select this option, a learner can launch his most recent completion of the course for the purpose of restarting or continuing the course. Restarting the course creates a new record in the Learner Transcript that counts toward the next completion. Continuing the course allows the learner to reenter the last completion with the goal of changing and improving its score. Immediately after the learner launches the last completion, he is prompted to choose whether to restart or continue the course. Be aware that if the Enable Forced Restart web site switch is set to yes, and you set this setting for a course, learners can still launch the most recent completion. However, this automatically creates a new record in the Learner Transcript that counts toward the next completion. In other words, learners must restart the course; they are not given the option to continue (re-enter) the last completion. If you do not select this option, a learner can still launch his initial completion of the course. However, doing so only allows the learner to re-enter the initial completion for the purpose of improving its score. The learner cannot create another completion record. Request Approval for a Course Restart If a maximum number of course test attempts has been specified as completion criteria for a course, and you attempt to take the course test after you have reached the maximum limit, a message displays that you have reached the maximum number of test attempts. To take the test again, you can request a course restart. 14

15 Questionnaire Survey Tool The Questionnaire tool is a powerful resource for creating compliance-related questionnaires, surveys, and policy certifications, all supported by the robust administrative functionality of Advanced Compliance. After a user submits the questionnaire, it is available to be reviewed and commented on. When creating a questionnaire, certain questions can be marked as variant. This enables the reviewer to receive a notification when a user submits a non-standard answer. Administrators can: Create and edit a questionnaire Assign a questionnaire to a user or demographic group Review a user's answers to a questionnaire and make comments Run a questionnaire report for a user or demographic group Questionnaires Catalog Page In the Administrator Interface, go to Content>Questionnaires. This opens the Catalog Page. The Catalog is the list of Questionnaires that you have saved in draft form or published. An arrow by a questionnaire title indicates there is more than one version of the questionnaire - click it to see the different versions. To the right of each questionnaire title, you will see its designated language, its Status (published or draft), and buttons to Edit (opens the editing interface), Preview (most recent saved version), or select More Options (Copy, Create Translation, Delete Latest Draft, or Inactivate). 15

16 If you have several questionnaires in your catalog, you may find it helpful to use the search box to find a specific title more quickly. Create a New Questionnaire While creating a questionnaire, click Save Draft periodically to save it as a draft without activating it. Questionnaires cannot be assigned unless they have been activated. Step 1: Name Click the Create New Questionnaire button. Enter the Name for your questionnaire, and select the Default language. The text you enter in the "Name" field will be what you use as an administrator to assign and report on this questionnaire, and the Name must be unique. Important: The name is unchangeable after activation. All translations of this questionnaire will use this name. The name appears in the header of a questionnaire when taking it. 16

17 Note: You must define demographics before completing learning plan assignments. For example: You might use the name "Workplace Harassment Survey" for a questionnaire on that topic that is updated annually. Then, you could give each updated version a different title (e.g., "2017 Workplace Harassment Survey", "2018 Workplace Harassment Survey", etc.). This would allow you to run a single report on the questionnaire and easily identify which specific version was completed by a user. After the name and default language is entered, you will see the Details editing interface for your new questionnaire. 17

18 Step 2: Enter Details Enter the Title for your questionnaire. A questionnaire's "title" differs from the name in that it is what a user sees when they take a questionnaire. A title can change with each updated version, and can be different for each translation. The title appears in the header of a questionnaire when the user is taking it. Top Menu Save: This saves a draft of your current questionnaire. Save early and save often! Draft questionnaires cannot be assigned. Drafts of translated questionnaires cannot be set as the "Default" language for that questionnaire. Draft versions are listed along with Published versions on the Details page. Publish: This publishes your current questionnaire. Publishing a questionnaire makes it available for assignment. If users have completed previous versions of this questionnaire, you will have to reassign it to them after activating it. If users have NOT completed a previous version of this questionnaire, their assignment will automatically be updated to this version. Print: Prints your questionnaire. Generic text strings that appear on the questionnaire (e.g., "Choose a single response below") are translated to the questionnaire's language when printed. 18

19 Home: Returns to the main Questionnaire Catalog page. NOTE: When translating a questionnaire into different languages, it is recommended that you translate the title as well. This allows a user to read the title of a questionnaire in their preferred language. Other editable fields on the Details page include: Author: The name of the person or group of people who created the questionnaire. Language: Select from the pull-down menu. When you create and publish a questionnaire, the language you choose will be the "Default" for that questionnaire. If you create and activate translations of a questionnaire, you may change the "Default" language from the Questionnaire Catalog page. As you create translations, this list will be limited by languages in which a translation does not already exist. The "Default" language is the language a questionnaire will display in if no translation is available. For example, if you have created English and Spanish translations of a questionnaire with English assigned as the "Default," if a French-speaking user attempts to take the questionnaire, it will display in English since a French translation does not exist. Conditions of Self-Monitoring: Choose whether or not to display the conditions of self-monitored training disclaimer to users, asking them to confirm their identity. E-Signature: Choose whether or not to insert an e-signature option for users settings: Choose whether or not to send a reviewer an if a user selects a variant response, and whether or not to send the user an if a reviewer leaves a comment on their answers. The fields that are automatically generated and updated on the Details page are: Published Version: Whenever you publish a questionnaire, a new version is created. This ensures that all historical records are kept for reporting purposes. When you run a report on a questionnaire, it is easy to see which version of a questionnaire a user completed. Version increments update automatically with edits. This maintains a historical record of questionnaire data (questions, answers, policies, etc.). The version number appears in the header of a published questionnaire. Draft Version: Whenever you edit a questionnaire and save it without publishing it, a new draft version is created. This ensures that all historical records are kept for reporting purposes. Created On: The date and timestamp of the first time the questionnaire was saved. Last Modified By: The name of the person or group of people who last saved a modification to the questionnaire. Last Modified On: The date and timestamp of the last time an edit was saved to this questionnaire. 19

20 Step 3: Enter Policy information The Policy tab is where any required information you want to require users to read (such as a corporate policy), and any attached documents, are added to the questionnaire. If you write a policy explanation or attach a policy document, users taking the questionnaire will be presented with that information before they answer any questions. All of the information on this tab is optional. Introductory Text: Text entered into this field will be presented to the user when they first launch the questionnaire. If you do not want to insert required reading material before users answer the questionnaire, leave this field blank. You can format text in this field by using the controls above the text box. (Please note, if you copy and paste from an external source, the original formatting may be lost.) Policy Type: If you attach an external document to this questionnaire, users will have to review it before they can answer any questions. Links to a document can be external (e.g., an HTTP or HTTPS address) or internal (e.g., a file you upload). Select either File or Link with the pull-down menu. If you select "File", you will see a field to enter the "Policy Path." Click in this field to see a list of available files to choose from. Use the File Manager controls to upload files. Uploaded documents must be in.pdf format (maximum file size 10 MB). If you select "Link", you can type in your link URL. 20

21 About the File Manager Controls On the Policy tab and when entering Questions and Answers, you will have the option to upload external files to be displayed in the questionnaire. To make these files available, you must first upload them into the questionnaire File Manager. To upload a policy, click in the Policy Path field. You will see a dropdown menu with 3 symbols beneath it a file folder, a reload symbol, and an X to close the menu. Select the file folder to open the File Manager. 21

22 Click the Browse button to browse to the location of the document, select it, then click Upload. The document will appear in the Draft Content folder in the File Manager. If you are adding image files to a question or answer, the image selector will look slightly different, but File Manager interface works the same way. When your images or pdfs have been uploaded to the File Manager, they will visible and selectable. 22

23 Step 3: Enter Questions On the Questions tab, you will create all of the questions, answers, branch questions, and further explanation fields of your questionnaire. To create a question, click a green [+] icon to insert the question at that location. Question numbers update automatically when you add a new question. New questions are highlighted by a red bracket to their left. Click the gray (x) next to a question or answer to delete it (this action cannot be undone). Edit Question Properties: Click the question text to open the question editing window. 23

24 Sequence: Questions numbers are automatically generated as they are added. To reorder a question, choose the new page order from the "Sequence" pulldown menu. The question will be moved to its new position and all of the questions will be automatically renumbered. If this question is part of a question branch, changing its number will resequence it within the branch. Response Required: Determines whether or not a user must answer this question before proceeding. Setting this answer to "No" will mark this question with an [OPTIONAL] tag for the user. Question Type: You may choose from Multiple Choice, Select all that apply (more than one answer possible), or Written Response (user will be given a text box to type a response in). If you choose Select all that apply, you may also enter a maximum number of correct answers in the Max Checks (optional) box. Image (optional): This allows you to upload an image that will appear directly before this question. You may select an image by clicking in the box to open the File Manager Controls. Supported formats are BMP, JPG, PNG, and GIF. Max image file size: 5 MB. Note: Each time you update this questionnaire and create a new version, all images are copied in order to preserve historical accuracy for reporting. Uploading large images can rapidly consume the file space you have available. Image Width (optional): Defines actual pixel size, or width defined as a percentage of the screen size. You may select Actual Size, or 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% Page Width (height is automatically constrained to maintain your image s proper aspect ratio). Question: Write and edit your test question text here. Format text in this field by using the controls above the text box. (Please note, if you copy and paste from an external source, the original formatting may be lost.) Any links included in the question text will open in a new window. 24

25 Step 4: Add Answers: For each question, click the blue [+Add Answer] button to add answers. Edit Answer Properties: Click on each answer to open an editing window. Sequence: Questions numbers are automatically generated as they are added. To reorder a question, click on the question to open the edit window. Choose the new page order from the "Sequence" pulldown menu. Image (optional): This allows you to upload an image that will appear directly before this question. You may select an image by clicking in the box to open the File Manager Controls. Supported formats are BMP, JPG, PNG, and GIF. Max image file size: 5 MB. Image Width (optional): Defines actual pixel size, or the width defined as a percentage of the screen size. You may select Actual Size, or 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% Page Width. (Height is automatically constrained to maintain your image s proper aspect ratio) Notify Reviewer: If you select Yes, the designated reviewers for the questionnaire will receive an if that particular answer is selected by a user. Answer Follow-up: If you select Create a series of follow-up questions, the user will be required to answer a series of questions. These questions are created in the same way that normal questions are created, and they can have their own set of answers with additional follow-up options. If Request further explanation is selected, the user will be presented with a text box to type an answer into. Answer Text Box: The answer text to be displayed to the user. This text can be formatted by using the controls at the top of the text box, similar to the Question field. You can expand and condense question branches by clicking the [+] or [-] signs in their headers. 25

26 Step 5: Completion Message This tab allows you to enter a customized message for the user when they complete a questionnaire. This message will be presented to them after they submit their responses, but before they close the questionnaire. If both of these fields are left blank, the user will be presented with a generic message that says "Thank you for completing this questionnaire." Standard Completion Message: A message entered into this field will be displayed to users who did NOT select any variant answers that triggered notification of the reviewer. You can format the text in this message by using the controls above the text field. Example Message: Thank you for completing this questionnaire. Additionally, you may review your answers by closing this message box. You may close this window at any time. Variant Completion Message: A message entered into this field will be displayed to users who selected one or more answers that were set to trigger the notification of the reviewer. (The standard completion message is the default text in this field). You can format the text in this message by using the controls above the field. Example Message: Thank you for completing this questionnaire. A member of Human Resources will be following up with you shortly. If you haven't heard from an HR Representative within 48 hours, please contact us. You may close this window at any time. 26

27 Step 6: Select Reviewers In the Reviewers tab, select the reviewers who may monitor this questionnaire. To add a reviewer, click the "Add" link and select one or more reviewers from the available list. To remove a reviewer from the list, click the red X next to their information. Reviewers will receive notifications when users choose a variant response on this questionnaire. Reviewers will then be able to log in and read the responses that a user chose for this questionnaire. Reviewers can comment on any response a user chose. Users will be ed when their response has been commented on. Users can view comments by logging in and launching their completed questionnaire from the "Completed Training Material" section of their learning plan. 27

28 Step 7: Select Print Format In the Print Format tab, you can see and edit what the questionnaire will look like if the user chooses to print it. Click to Force Page Break: Force a page break between questions to control the number of questions that appear on each page. 28

29 Reviewing Questionnaires If you have been assigned as a reviewer, you will receive an notification when a user's response to a particular question has been flagged as variant. You can also examine questionnaire responses by users and/or titles in the Academy Administrator interface. In the Administrator Interface, go to Reports>Advanced Reporting. This opens the Reports page. Click Questionnaire Reports. Select Group Report, Questionnaire Results, or User Report, Questionnaire Results. For Group Reports: Step 1: Enter a title for your report (Optional) Step 2: Select your desired output (Web browser,.pdf, or.csv) Step 3: Select the Questionnaire title or titles to report on. Step 4: Select any desired report Filters. You may choose All responses or Variant responses only. You may also choose from several demographic filters, similar to other types of Academy reports. Step 5: Run Report 29

30 For User Reports: Step 1: Select User Step 2: Enter a title for your report (Optional) Step 3: Select your desired output (Web browser,.pdf, or.csv) Step 4: Select the Questionnaire title or titles to report on. Step 5: Select Content Filters (All or Variant Responses), and Questionnaire Due dates (optional) Step 6: Run Report 30

31 Dashboards Dashboards provide administrators and supervisors at all levels a way to quickly summarize, customize and drill-down on the critical data points relevant to their compliance training program. Administrators can: Visually summarize and display key data points in a variety of charts. Quickly drill down on training data to understand the state of their compliance training program. Filter on a variety of parameters allowing for user flexibility when creating, saving and modifying custom graphics. Assess training status by monitoring assigned training, completions, overdue courses and equivalencies. 31

32 Users In this option, you can perform user-specific administrative functions such as adding new users, editing user information, making learning plan assignments, exemptions, or equivalencies, assigning completions, or running reports. This option also allows you to assign a language preference, change user status, and designate a user as an Administrator with a defined level of access to each administrative function. To begin, select Users in the top menu bar, then select User Information from the pull-down menu. User Information Step 1: Select the administrative function you wish to perform: Edit User Info Make Individual Learning plan assignments Assign Exemptions/Equivalencies Assign Completions Run User Report, Completions Only Run User Report, Exemptions and Equivalencies Run User Report, Training Status Run User Report, Run Training Assignments by User Run User Report, Learning Plan 32

33 Step 2: Search for the user. Type the first letter(s) of the last name and click Find to quickly jump to the user name. You can also use the pull-down menu to search by User ID or Account Number (if included in your user information), if you prefer. Step 3: Click the user to perform the selected administrative function. Adding New Users You have the option of adding your users information as bulk uploads, using an automated data import, or entering the information individually. Contact your Skillsoft representative for more information on automated or bulk uploads of data. Note: The Demographics section must be completed prior to setting up the User Information option. To add users individually, review the information below. Step 1: To add a new user to your Academy, click Add New User. Step 2: A blank text box will appear in the center of your screen where you can input the user s data, including: User ID (must be unique examples of possible User IDs include employee ID badge number, etc.; cannot include apostrophes) Password (case-sensitive; cannot include special characters) First Name, Last Name User Status Address Send to User (available when notifications are enabled) Supervisor Address Additional Demographic Information Security Level (System default is at the user level) Account Number (This optional field is automatically available and will be displayed for each user. This label may also be customized [i.e., employee ID, SAP#, etc.] Contact your Solutions Consultant to modify your Training Policies with the new label.) 33

34 User ID: The User ID is the unique log-in ID for the user. Every user must have a unique User ID. Because employee names are not necessarily unique, consider a unique number such as employee id or badge number. Existing company network User IDs can also be used. Password: For added security, the user s password will appear as asterisks when it is entered. Should the user forget his or her password, the original password or a new password can be re-entered in User Information by an Administrator. In addition, the Academy has an option to allow users to Reset my password or Change my password from the login screen. First and last name: The user s name will appear in the user directory as entered in User Information Setup. User Status: Users have a status of Active or Inactive. Additional demographic information: Select the information for each demographic category. Security level: Using the pull-down menu, assign the appropriate level of access for the individual. This feature provides the user with access to your Academy s administrative functions (as defined in Security Setup). As stated above, the system s default is the user level. For more information regarding the levels of security, refer to the Security Setup Section in this Administrator s Guide. Step 3: Click Submit. Note: If you selected open access in the Initial Setup Interview, users will create their User ID and password at the time of initial log-in, and will then proceed to select the appropriate demographic information. During the Setup Interview, the administrator may set any field as required for self-registration, including address, any demographic, supervisor address, Supervisor Level II, and 2 optional customer-defined fields. Users must complete all required fields before continuing registration. User Status User status is designated as either: Active Inactive Definitions: 34

35 Active User: Users who are actively taking training and have learning plan assignments assigned, as well as due dates for training. Important: If an active user is changed to inactive status, the user will no longer be able to log in to the Academy. Inactive User: Inactive users are not taking training, possibly due to extended leave of absence, or if they are no longer employed. By changing the user to inactive, the user will no longer be able to log in to the Academy and will not be included in subsequent reports or notification. Important: If an inactive user is changed back to the status of active, the user will inherit the current learning plan assignments of the Demographic Group, as well as individual learning plan assignments already assigned. The learning plan assignment due dates will be the same as when the user was active. Learning Plan Assignments If a particular user has a unique learning plan assignment different from the requirements designated for a demographic group, you can assign training to an individual user as needed. 35

36 Step 1: Select Users from the top menu bar, then Learning plan assignments from the pull-down menu. Step 2: Next, search for the user. Type the first letter(s) of the last name and click Find to quickly jump to the user name. You can also use the pull-down menu to search by User ID. Step 3: Click the user name to perform the selected administrative function. Step 4: The user s learning plan assignments will be displayed. Step 5: Using the library window, select a requirement (or use Ctrl+Click to select multiple requirements) from the library. Alternately, you can enter a search term in the Search Course Title box. You do not need the full course title for the search; you may enter partial titles and parts of words. Note: If you would like to make a learning plan assignment that is not in the course list, go to Content>Library and click Add Course to Library. Step 6: Passing Threshold - Set the score required for a user to achieve a completion. Some SCORM course players control the passing threshold in the course player and will not adhere to the passing threshold set in the LMS. Step 7: Type - Specify whether the requirement(s) is/are Required or Optional. Required assignments have a due date; optional assignments do not have a due date. Step 8: Initial Training: When initial training should be completed by. X days after the user receives the course requirement Calendar date. IMPORTANT: If a past calendar date is entered, the due date will default to the same date the following year. For example, if an Initial Training date of 1/1/2014 is entered on 3/1/2014, the due dates for users will default to 1/1/2015. You will also specify how many days prior to the due date the course will display or become available on the user s Learning plan. To make the course available immediately, this number must be equal to or greater than the number of days until the course is due. For example, if you select the Initial 36

37 Training to be due 90 days after the user receives the course and you want to make the course available to the user immediately, the availability value must be set to at least 90 days. Assignment Type: Whether training is considered retraining, and how long the training is valid, or whether the training is considered one time only training Recurring by Completion Date (RCD). This is the most stringent assignment type. Users will be required to take the course on a recurring basis, and their next due date is calculated from their last completion date. Recurrence is based on the number of days, weeks, or years entered here. After a user completes the course, his or her next due date will be calculated as last completion plus the validity period. You will also specify how many days prior to the recurring due date the course will display or become available on the user s Learning plan. To make the course available immediately, this number must be one day less than the recurrence period. For example, if you select that the course is due 365 days from the user s previous completions, and you want to make the course available to the user immediately, the availability value must be set to 364 days. Recurring by Due Date (RDD) or Calendar-based. This assignment type allows you to specify a calendar date when all users will be due, regardless of past completion dates. The course will be required on a recurring basis depending on the number of days, weeks or years entered here. In this case, a user s next due date is calculated as previous due date plus the validity period. One Time Only. Learning plan assignments of this type are required only once for users. Other Parameters: When courses will be made available for retraining. In the case of RCD and RDD training, this period indicates when a course will move from the Completed Training section of a user s Learning plan back to the Current Training section. The passing threshold for tests (percentage) 37

38 More about Initial Training There are two ways a user can receive Initial Training. The most common way is when the user receives the course assignment for the first time. This can occur either when a user is added to the Academy or when a user is placed into a Demographic Group having the course assignment. In either case, the user has never had this course assigned during his/her history in the Academy. The second way a user can receive Initial Training is when the course is assigned to the user following a previous assignment of the same course, but the previous assignment has been removed or no longer exists. In this case, a user may have had a previous completion, but that completion is no longer valid. Example: New Assignment: John Doe is added to the Academy on 1/1/2017 after being hired. All courses assigned to John Doe are Initial Training. Re-assignment Jane Doe was a supervisor in 2016, and completed Behavior-based Safety for Supervisors. In 2017, Jane changed job functions, and Behavior-based Safety for Supervisors was no longer required for her. As a result, her previous course completion was classified as history. In 2018, Jane once again moved into a supervisory role, and Behavior-based Safety for Supervisors was again required for her job function. The new course assignment is required annually, so her 2016 completion is not valid. (See Glossary for details on a Valid Completion.) As a result, her 2018 assignment will be assigned as Initial Training. 38

39 Step 9: Click Add. Repeat Steps 5-9 until all learning plan assignments have been made to the user and click Done. IMPORTANT: Individual learning plan assignments take precedence over all other assignments for a user. If a user has the same course assigned through a group and as an individual learning plan assignment, the individual assignment will take precedence. This means individual requirements can be made less stringent than group requirements (see Learning plan assignments for more details on stringency). 39

40 Exemptions and Equivalencies With this option, you can assign exemptions or equivalencies to individual users. Step 1: Select Users in the top menu, then Exemptions and Equivalencies from the pull-down menu. Step 2: Next, search for the user. Type the first letter(s) of the last name and click Find to quickly jump to the user name. You can also use the pull-down menu to search by User ID, employee number, or birth date. Click the user name to perform the selected administrative function. Step 3: You will see all learning plan assignments assigned to the selected user. If you would like to give a user credit for a learning plan assignment, click the Equivalency button. You have the option of entering the date the exemption is granted, a justification, and a certificate URL, if applicable. If a user is exempt from training and therefore the learning plan assignment will be waived, click the Exemption button. You have the option of entering the date the exemption is granted, an expiration date, a justification, and a certificate URL, if applicable. Note: Once exemptions or equivalencies have been assigned, the learning plan assignment will no longer appear on the user s learning plan. The exemption/equivalency will be listed in the user s transcript. Step 4: Click Save Changes. Exemption and Equivalency Expiration You can assign an expiration date to an exemption. An equivalency assigned to a learning plan assignment will expire upon the learning plan assignment due date. Upon expiration, the learning plan assignment will appear on the user s learning plan with a new due date equal to the previous due date + the valid-for period (RCD) or the calendar-based due date (RDD). If the learning plan assignment has been defined as one-time-only training, the EX/EQ will never expire. Edit Exemption/Equivalency Information To edit an exemption or equivalency, make the necessary changes and click Save Changes. 40

41 Delete Exemption/Equivalency Step 1: Click the Exemption or Equivalency button to de-select. Step 2: Click Save Changes. Note: If an equivalency or exemption is deleted, the user will now see the learning plan assignment on their learning plan with its original due date. An equivalency assigned to a learning plan assignment will expire upon the assignment due date. Exemptions will expire on the date specified by the administrator. Upon expiration, the learning plan assignment will appear on the user s learning plan with a new due date equal to the previous due date + the valid-for period, or the calendar-based (RDD) due date. If the learning plan assignment has been defined as one-time-only training, the EX/EQ will never expire. 41

42 Individual Completions If you have made a learning plan assignment with a delivery method other than the Web (video, classroom, CD, etc.), you can record a training completion for each user in your Academy. However, if you assign non-wbt learning plan assignments and would like to track completions, you will need to enter a completion record for each user. If an HTML link has been assigned and the Completion dialogue box has been enabled, the user will get a completion for that non-wbt requirement by accepting the confirmation upon closing the HTML link. Follow the steps below to assign completions for non-wbt. Step 1: Select Assign Completions from the Users pull-down menu. Step 2: Search for the user. Type the first letter(s) of the last name and click Find to quickly jump to the user name. You can also use the pull-down menu to search by User ID. Step 3: Click the user name. Step 4: The user s Other learning plan assignments will be displayed in a table. Click the Completed check box and enter a date. 42

43 Note: Score, Comment, and Certificate URL fields are optional. Certificate URL is a URL to a customer-hosted document, and will display in a CSV report. Step 5: Click Submit. 43

44 User Reports Step 1: Select the top menu link Users, then the pull-down menu item User Information. See Step 1: Select administrative function and select one of the following from the pull-down menu: Run User Report, Completions Only -- Generates all training completed (including exemptions and equivalencies) by an individual. Date filter is optional and will filter by completion dates. Run User Report, Exemptions and Equivalencies Only -- Generates all training exemptions and equivalencies by an individual. Date filter is optional and will filter by completion dates. Run User Report, Training Status -- Displays required training that is overdue, not started, in progress, and completed. Optional training that has been completed will also be displayed. Optional courses that have a status of "not started" or in "progress" will not be displayed. Date filter is optional, and will filter by Due By dates for training. Run Learning Plan Assignments by User Report Displays a summary of the current learning plan assignments for a user. Step 2: Next, search for the user. Type the first letter(s) of the last name and click Find to quickly jump to the user name. You can also use the pull-down menu to search by User ID or Account Number. Select the user. Step 3: Click the user name to perform the selected administrative function. Step 4: Delivery Method: Use the pull-down menu to filter the library by delivery method. Step 5: Course Status: Use the pull-down menu to filter the library by course status. Step 6: Select courses to include in the report. Click on a single course title (or use Ctrl+Click to select multiple courses). Click on Select Course to add courses to the report filter. Step 7: Select training type, if applicable. Select training status, if applicable. Step 8: Enter date filters, if needed. Step 9: Select output format: Web browser, PDF, or CSV (spreadsheet). 44

45 User Report, Displays information on s generated to Users. Information is only available for s generated within the previous 6 months. Step 1: Select the top menu link Users, then the pull-down menu item User Information. See Step 1: Select administrative function and select Run User Report, . Step 2: Next, search for the user. Type the first letter(s) of the last name and click Find to quickly jump to the user name. You can also use the pull-down menu to search by User ID or Account Number. Select the user. Step 3: Select Type: Click the pick list and select All, Non-recurring, or Recurring. Step 4: Add filter for date: Enter the time period in the Sent in Last field. For example, to view s sent to a user in the past week, enter a 1 in the Sent in Last box and then select Week from the pick list. Step 5: Select output format: Web browser, PDF, or CSV (spreadsheet) and click Run Report. User Report, Learning Plan Provides a snapshot of what information is displayed in a user s learning plan. 45

46 Demographics In the Demographics function, you can select/edit the information associated with each user in your Academy. When selecting your demographics, you are designating the type of information that will be associated with each user. All your reports and curriculum assignments are based on the types of demographics you specify in this option. The user demographics will enable you to sort reports by this information and make learning plan assignments to specific groups of users. Navigate to this function by selecting Demographic Groups from the top menu, and then selecting Demographics from the pull-down menu. Up to 15 demographic categories may be defined. Demographic categories can be based on your organizational structure or any configuration you desire. Typical demographics include: Division Site Job Function Department Plant Team Supervisor Name Examine your organizational structure to help determine your reporting needs. The more demographics you specify, the more flexible and detailed your reporting will be. 46

47 Define Demographic Category Step 1: On this page, you will enter the demographic categories (e.g., Job Function, Site, and Division). To add new demographic categories, follow the steps below: Select Demographic Groups from the top menu, and then select Demographics from the pulldown menu. Enter the name of the desired demographic category title. Enter the sort order. Sort order will be used when the demographics are displayed on this screen and other screens in the Academy. Click Add. The new demographic will appear in the Define Demographic list in the order specified. If no order is specified, demographics are listed in alphabetical order Step 2: After you have entered the demographic categories that will be associated with each of your users, you will then further define each category by entering the names associated with each demographic category and the sort order. For example, if you want to track users by a demographic category such as Job Function, you will need to enter the job title associated with each user in your Academy. Click Define to further define the demographic that you would like to be associated with each user. Enter the specific names. For example, if Site is a demographic category, click Define to enter the specific sites in your organization (e.g., Plant X, Plant Y, Plant Z). Enter the sort order and click Add. When you have completely defined the demographic that will be associated with each user, click Done. 47

48 Note: To view and edit the labels associated with each category, click Define. You can then add or delete a label. Editing Demographics Any of the demographic category titles previously entered can be renamed or deleted, and the demographic labels associated with each category may be edited. To rename a demographic category: Step 1: Select the text to be edited Step 2: Type in your change Step 3: Change sort order, if necessary. Step 3: Click Update to save the change(s). Deleting a Demographic To delete a demographic category title or demographic label, click Delete. A dialog box located in the center of your page will confirm that the demographic has been deleted. Note: You cannot delete a demographic category if demographic labels are defined for that category. For example, before you can delete Department you must delete the defined department labels (Accounting, Operations, etc.). Assigning Demographics to Users Once the demographics have been defined, the next step will be to assign the demographic information to each user in User Information. 48

49 Demographic Groups A demographic group is comprised of users who will share the same learning plan assignments. Groups are created using the demographic labels that have already been created. You must create a demographic group before making learning plan assignments. It is recommended that you spend time analyzing the user demographics to determine which demographic groups share the same learning plan assignments and which demographic groups have unique learning plan assignments. For example, if a demographic category (e.g., job function) which includes electricians, welders, and operations shares the same learning plan assignments, you can designate just one demographic group (Job Function = All). However, if your organization has very unique learning plan assignments for each job function, the best approach would be to create a demographic group for each job function (select a defined job function, such as electrician ). Create a Demographic Group Step 1: To begin, click the Demographic group link in Learning plan assignments. Using the pull-down menus for each of the demographic categories, define each demographic group by selecting the appropriate demographic(s) labels and clicking Add. Keep in mind that users in each demographic group will share the same learning plan assignments. Note: To create Demographic groups using only demographic labels associated with user data, check the box for Apply automatic demographic filtering. 49

50 Step 2: When you have defined each demographic group, click Done to return to learning plan assignments page. To search for a demographic group in the list once you have created it, you may do a filtered search using Filter Group Titles. You do not need the full group title for the search; you may enter partial titles and parts of words. There are three buttons for each existing Demographic Group in the list: Users, Details, and Delete. The Details button will display the demographic category and demographic name associated with each group. 50

51 Delete a Demographic Click Delete. Note: If learning plan assignments have been assigned to a demographic group, you must delete the learning plan assignments before deleting the demographic group (see Learning Plan Assignments). Exemptions and Equivalencies (group) You can assign exemptions and equivalencies to a group of users. The Date, Expiration Date (for exemptions) and Justification specified will be the same for all users. The group of users returned is filtered by course and may be further filtered by demographics. IMPORTANT: only users with an open requirement (in a noncomplete state) are returned in the list. Step 1: Select Demographic Groups from the top menu, then select Exemptions and Equivalencies from the drop-down menu. Step 2: Select the course from the Course drop down list. To further filter the group, select the appropriate demographics from the drop down lists, as well.step 3: Click Submit. Step 4: You will see a list of users with an open (noncomplete) assignment for this course and who meet the demographic criteria, if specified. If you would like to give the users credit for a learning plan assignment, click the checkbox under EQ. If the users are exempt from training and therefore the learning plan assignment will be waived, click the checkbox under EX and enter the expiration date for the exemption. Enter the date the exemption or equivalency was granted, and enter a justification, if desired. You can grant the exemption or equivalency to all users in the list by clicking the Select/Unselect All box or you can select certain users by clicking the checkbox beside each name. To clear all checked boxes click the Select/Unselect All box again. You can unselect certain users by clicking the checkbox beside each name. 51

52 You may also enter a certificate URL for each user. The certificate URL is a link to a customer-hosted document associated with the user s exemption or equivalency (for example, medical exemption note or completion certificate from another source). The certificate URL will show in CSV reports. Step 5: Click Submit. 52

53 Learning Plan Assignments Once demographic groups have been defined, you can now assign courses and/or a curriculum group to each demographic group. Scroll down to view your list of demographic groups. Make Learning Plan Assignments To make initial learning plan assignments to a demographic group, select Actions. A drop-down menu will appear with four options: Assign, Details, Copy Assignments, and Delete. Click Assign. To copy assignments from one selected group to another, click Copy. You will then be able to select from a menu the name of the group you want to copy to. You have the options to copy all assignments, select specific courses from the assignments, and whether to overwrite any existing assignments. 53

54 Note: If the administrator chooses to overwrite existing assignments, the copy action will simply overwrite any existing assignments of the same courses in the target group. It will not delete any assignments in the target group that were not part of the copied source group. Step 1: Using the Library window, select a learning plan assignment(s) to make to the group. To find a course, you can enter a search term in the Filter Groups title box. You do not need the full course title for the search; you may enter partial titles and parts of words. Use the filter options to limit the courses in the list. Use Ctrl+Click to select multiple courses. Note: If you would like to make a learning plan assignment that is not in the library, go to Library and click Add Course to Library. Step 2: Select the additional learning plan assignment information. You will then define: Type: Whether the course is required or optional Initial Training: When initial training should be completed. to at least 90 days. X days after the user receives the course Calendar date. IMPORTANT: If a past calendar date is entered, the due date will default to the same date the following year. For example, if an Initial Training date of 1/1/2014 is entered on 3/1/2014, the due dates for users will default to 1/1/2015. You will also specify how many days prior to the due date the course will display or become available on the user s Learning Plan. To make the course available immediately, this number must be equal to or greater than the number of days until the course is due. For example, if you select the Initial Training to be due 90 days after the user receives the course, and you want to make the course available to the user immediately, the availability value must be set 54

55 Assignment Type: Whether training is considered retraining, how long the training is valid, or whether the training is considered one time only training. Recurring by Completion Date (RCD). This is the most stringent assignment type. Users will be required to take the course on a recurring basis. Recurrence is based on the number of days, weeks, or years entered here. After a user completes the course, his or her next due date will be calculated as last completion plus the validity period entered here. Recurring by Due Date (RDD). This allows you to specify a calendar date when all users will be due, regardless of past completion dates. This assignment type will also be required on a recurring basis depending on the number of days, weeks or years entered here. One Time Only. Learning plan assignments of this type are required only once for users. Other Parameters: When courses will be made available for retraining. In the case of RCD and RDD training, this period indicates when a course will move from the Completed Training section of a user s Learning Plan back to the Current Training section. The passing threshold for tests (percentage) can also be set here. If you have questions regarding the setting for the courses you are using on your site, contact your Skillsoft representative. Step 3: Administrators may choose to add a note to Group or Individual Learning Plan Assignments. These notes are for administrator reference and will only appear on the Add and Edit Learning Plan Assignment pages. Learning plan assignment notes are not displayed on administrative reports. Step 4: Click Add. The new learning plan assignment(s) will appear in the list at the bottom of the screen. It may take a few minutes for the new learning plan assignment(s) to appear on the users Learning plans. Note: To prevent the duplicate assignment of a course to a user s learning plan, the learning plan assignment will no longer be listed in the pull-down menu for that demographic group. Step 5: Repeat 1-4 until all learning plan assignments have been assigned to the demographic group and click Done. Use Ctrl+Click to add multiple courses at a time. 55

56 Edit Learning Plan Assignments To view or edit learning plan assignments for each demographic group, click Assign. To view learning plan assignment information for each assigned course, click Edit. To return, click Back. To change the learning plan assignment information for a course, click Edit, make the necessary changes to each field, and click Done. Editing Demographic Group Due Dates When editing an RCD requirement for a Demographic group, due dates for users will be calculated from their previous completion date using the validity period specified by the administrator. If the validity or recurring period is modified, users' next due dates are recalculated accordingly. If the recurring period is increased, making a user s previous completion valid for the new period, the previous completion will be removed from history and re-linked to the current open requirements. (See Appendix 2 Business Rules for more details.) When editing an RDD requirement for a Demographic Group, due dates for users are based on the calendar date specified. Users who have completed the learning plan assignment will retain their current completion and associated due date until the next assignment comes due. Based on the number of days specified for the course to be made available for retraining, the completed learning plan assignment will be moved to history and a new requirement added to the user s plan with the due date specified. 56

57 Note: All users in Initial Training are not affected by changes to the Assignment Type due dates, unless the recurring period is modified in such a way that the user s previous completion, if one exists, becomes valid. Otherwise, users in Initial Training maintain due dates set by the Initial Training Parameters. Modifying the values for Initial Training will update the due dates for all users in Initial Training. When an administrator edits any learning plan assignment field other than the due date (passing threshold, optional vs. required, etc.), users who have not completed the learning plan assignment or who have not begun training will automatically receive the new learning plan assignment information. Those users who have completed the training will receive the newly established assignment info upon retraining. Inherited Learning Plan Assignments If a learning plan assignment has been established for a particular demographic category (e.g., Site), all subsequent demographic groups associated with Site will inherit the learning plan assignment and the learning plan assignment information (passing threshold, due date, etc.). Learning plan assignments that are inherited from another demographic group are indicated in gray, and the source demographic group for the inherited requirement is indicated in parentheses after the course title. An inherited learning plan assignment may be made more stringent (e.g., enter a higher passing threshold or earlier completion date), but you will not be able to specify less stringent requirements. Note: Learning plan assignments made at the individual level take precedence over all group assignments to a user for the same course. Therefore, it is possible to make a learning plan assignment less stringent for a user at the Individual learning plan assignment level (see Stringency section below for more details). Example: John Doe is an office administrator in a Houston manufacturing facility. All Houston employees must complete Electrical Safety annually, as assigned through the Demographic group Houston. However, office employees only need Electrical Safety every 2 years. By editing the inherited Electrical Safety assignment at the Individual level for John Doe and setting the validity period to 2 years, he will only be required to complete the course every 2 years regardless of the annual requirement at the Houston level. 57

58 Stringency Learners are often part of several different training groups, and can have individual training requirements assigned as well. Consequently, it s not unusual that a learner may have the same course assigned multiple times. Overlapping training requirements can easily be different in initial training, recurrences, due dates and retraining periods. Multiple listings in a user s learning plan can be very confusing, especially if due dates aren t the same. In the interest of simplifying the listing of assets for the user, only one assignment of the course will be displayed on the user s Learning Plan from any overlapping assignments. To provide this simplification the system must filter which requirement should be displayed to the user. The process that determines which requirement is displayed is referred to as stringency. The application of stringency rules for a group or individual determines which one of multiple training assignments takes precedence over the others. Individual Training assignments always take precedence over assignments made through a group. This gives an administrator the option to make exceptions at a personal level. Stringency rules apply in the following order: Training Requirement Property Individual or Group Requirement Required or Optional Training Type Validity in Days Due Date (for RDD requirements only) Assessment minimum score Precedence - Individual Requirement is more stringent - Required is more stringent - Recurring by Completion Date (RCD) is most stringent - Recurring by Due Date (RDD) - One Time Only (OTO) is least stringent - The shortest validity or recurring period is more stringent - The earliest due date is more stringent - The highest minimum score is more stringent 58

59 Even though the learner only sees one assignment, all the unseen assignments for the same course remain in the system as unique group or individual training assignments. In other words, training assignments don t combine to form a hybrid assignment. When a training requirement is determined more stringent, all parameters of that particular assignment are given to the learner. In other words, it s a winner takes all scenario for the most stringent training assignment. For example, a Required assignment for Back Safety is more stringent than an Optional assignment for Back Safety. This same decision hierarchy applies when determining how an inherited assignment may be edited at the group level. For example, an administrator may edit an optional assignment to Required but cannot edit a required assignment to optional. When the administrator edits the assignment to Required, she or he may also make other options less stringent, (e.g., change the Optional RCD to a Required RDD). 59

60 As an example: Jane Smith is a member of the following demographics: Location: Job Role: Division: Knoxville Welder East She has received several training requirements for Fire Safety Assignment #1 Assignment #2 Assignment #3 Individual Wins! Individual training assignment that is Optional; Group training assignment for the Welders Training Group that is Required by Due Date (RDD) in 90 days; Group training assignments for Knoxville/East Training Group that is Required by Completion Date (RCD) in 180 days. When Jane opens her Learning Plan she will see that she has Fire Safety as an Optional course with no due date. This was the Individual training Assignment #1 which takes precedence over any Group assignments. If the Training Administrator would like the course to be required, she or he may delete the Individual training assignment or change its parameters. If Jane s individual training assignment #1 were deleted, she would see: RCD Wins! The two remaining group assignments for Fire Safety are both required. Assignment #3 is RCD which takes precedence over RDD in training assignment #2. Jane would now see that Fire Safety was a required course due in 180 days. 60

61 Assign Group Completions If you have made a learning plan assignment with a delivery method other than the Web (video, classroom, CD, etc.), you can record a training completion for each user in your Academy, and also for users by demographic groups. If an HTML link has been assigned and the Completion dialogue box has been enabled, the user will get a completion for that non-wbt assignment by accepting the confirmation upon closing the HTML link. Follow the steps below to assign group completions for non-wbt. Step 1: Select Assign Completions, under Demographic Groups, from the Administrative Tasks menu. Step 2: Select the course to assign completions. Step 3: Select additional demographic filters, as needed. Click Submit to generate list of learners with course assigned. Step 4: Enter date for the completion. Note that the Comment field is optional. Click the Completed check box and score (optional) for each learner who completed the requirement. Optionally, you may also check the Select all box to select all learners in the list. Step 5: Click Submit. 61

62 Content Library The library contains a list of all training courses as well as information on each course in your Academy. This feature provides a convenient method to create additional courses, links to documents, or other assets that may be offered to your users through a delivery method other than the Web. For example, you can add a video title or classroom training to the library so you can assign it as a learning plan assignment. In addition, you can edit existing course information. This option utilizes two scrollable tables to provide a comprehensive list of Web-based training (WBT) courses, as well as courses other than WBT. To navigate to the library, select Content in the top menu, then select Library from the pull-down menu. Searching the Library You may search the Library by using the Filter Course Titles field. You do not need the full course title for the search; you may enter partial titles and parts of words. Adding a New Course The Library option allows you to add any course title delivered by any training method. You can assign the course to your users as a learning plan assignment, or include the item in a Learning Program or prerequisite. For example, you can add company procedures, video titles, classroom training, etc., and then assign the content as part of your training program. To add a course title to the library, click Add Course to Library. Next, enter the information described below and click Add. 62

63 Note: Courses added to the non-wbt library will not utilize the SCORM or AICC standards. Completions must be entered by the administrator, uploaded through an import process, or, for courses with an HTML link delivery method; users may confirm that the course was accessed to achieve a completion. Course Information Form: Enter the information in each field (if applicable). To preview the Info page, click Info after completing the Course Information Form. Course Title: Enter the title as you would like it to appear on the Learning Plan. Course Number: If you use a numbering system to catalog your courses, enter it here. Course Category: Human Resources, Health and Safety, Environmental, etc. Version: Enter a version number here to help you track the most recent version of the course. Delivery Method: Indicate whether the course is video, classroom, CD, etc. If you add a course with delivery method HTML Link, you can also specify a URL which the user can launch from the Learning plan. CEUs: Specify Continuing Education Units (CEUs) that may be earned for completion of this course. CEUs are included in.csv versions of the Training Status, Exemptions/Equivalencies, and Completions Only reports for Users and Groups. Cost: If you track cost for courses, enter the cost for the user to complete the course here. Cost is shown on the Training Status report. Estimated Duration: Enter the estimated time to complete this course. CEUs are included in.csv versions of the Training Status, Exemptions/Equivalencies, and Completions Only reports for Users and Groups. Date Added: Enter the date you added the course to the library. Objectives: Write the learning objectives for the course being added to the library. Approval Date: Enter the date the course was approved. This will allow you to keep track of the most recent version of the course. 63

64 Description: Enter a brief description of the course. Exemption: If you select No for exemptions, exemptions cannot be assigned for this course for any reason. Equivalency: If you select No for equivalencies, equivalencies cannot be assigned for this course for any reason. Client Drivers: Enter any procedures or policies that relate to this course. Primary Drivers: Enter all regulatory drivers related to this course. Author: Enter the name of the author or owner of the course content. Intended Audience: Enter the target audience for this training. Link to this URL (for delivery method HTML Link only): If the course delivery method is HTML Link, enter the URL that users should be directed to from the Learning plan. Completion Dialogue For HTML links, you have three options: Manual Entry: For this option, course completions may be entered by the administrator, just as other non- WBT completions are entered. Completion Dialogue: In this option, the user is presented with a dialogue box after the HTML content is displayed. The user can either Confirm he/she has reviewed the material or Cancel to exit without generating a completion. If the user confirms review of the material, a completion is automatically created for that HTML link and the link is moved to the completed section of the user s Learning plan. Do not show Completion Dialogue: In this option, the course is marked complete immediately after the user launches the link, and no confirmation dialogue box is shown. Edit Course Information To view or edit the information for a course, select the radio button by the course, then click edit course. Make your changes on the Course Information Form and click Add. Course Info Select the radio button by the course, then click Course Info to view current course information. 64

65 Course Inactivate To make a course inactive in the academy, select the radio button by the course, then click the inactivate course button. Inactivating a course will result in the course being removed from all training assignments, learning programs, and prerequisites. Completion Criteria Here, the administrator can set additional controls over users course play experience. By default, courses do not have a page visitation or minimum time criteria. To change this for a specific course or courses, first select Content > Completion Criteria. To make criteria changes to all courses, select Global Criteria, then click Edit Contents. A dialogue box will appear where you can change settings to require minimum test scores and/or visitation of all content pages. You can also set a minimum time in course, by hours or minutes. 65

66 Under Configuration, you may set the test scoring model, a maximum number of test attempts, and the requirement to visit all content pages and/or complete all test questions. The administrator may also disable forward course navigation based on audio or video duration (to facilitate users seeing or hearing all instructional content on each page), and set a maximum limit on audio/video playback speed. This limit setting may be desired when time-in-course is a key completion criteria. Click Save when you are finished. All of the settings that can be changed under Global Criteria can also be changed on a course-by-course basis under Override Global Criteria. Select a course or courses in the list, click Edit Contents, and the completion/configuration dialogue box will appear just as it does when choosing Global Criteria. Curriculum Groups Curriculum Groups is an optional feature that allows you to organize your course offerings when making training assignments. A curriculum group contains several courses that make up a curriculum. For example, a curriculum group Blood borne Pathogens may include the WBT Blood borne Pathogens course as well as a video title Blood borne Pathogens. The User s learning plan displays courses in a Curriculum Group under the Curriculum Group title header. This option appears under the menus for Current Training and Completed Training. If you click the Info button by the group name, the information about the group is displayed, including the description. 66

67 IMPORTANT: When assigning a curriculum group to a user, each course in the curriculum will share the same learning plan assignment information (due date, passing threshold, validity, etc.). 67

68 Create a New Curriculum Group Step 1: To begin, select Content in the top menu and Curriculum Group in the pull-down menu. Type the name of the curriculum group and a description (optional) and click Add. You will see the new curriculum group name appear in the list. Note: The Curriculum Group description is displayed by clicking the Info button by the title of the group. The description includes a list of courses within the Curriculum Group, the required passing score, and how often the courses must be completed. A curriculum group cannot be included within another curriculum group. Step 2: Click Edit to define the courses that will be included in that curriculum. Step 3: Using the library list, select each course that should be included in the curriculum group and click Add. To select multiple courses from the list, use Ctrl+Click. Step 4: When you have identified all of the courses that will be included in the curriculum group, click Done. 68

69 Edit a Curriculum Group You can view, add, or delete courses that are currently included in a curriculum or change the name and description for the curriculum group. Step 1: Select Content in the top menu and Curriculum Groups on the pull-down menu. Step 2: Click Edit for the Curriculum Group you are editing. Step 3: To edit the curriculum group name, select the text, type in your change. To edit the description, type in your changes. To save changes, click Update. Step 4: To delete a course in the curriculum group, click Delete. To add a course, select course (or multiple courses), click Add. Step 5: When you have made your changes, click Done. 69

70 Delete a Curriculum Group Before you can delete a Curriculum Group, all courses must be deleted from the group. Edit the group first and delete each course. Click Done to save changes. Step 1: To delete a Curriculum Group, select Content from the top menu and Curriculum Groups from the pull-down menu. Step 2: Click Delete. Note: If there are learning plan assignments (courses) assigned to the curriculum group, you cannot delete the group. Follow the steps in the Edit Curriculum Group section to delete requirements. 70

71 Learning Program Learning Programs is a feature that provides Administrators the ability to: Name a Learning Program Assign courses to it Designate completion requirements for complete all, complete in order and minimum duration in hours. The assignment of a Learning Program will allow the Administrator to follow the current Academy process of creating an assignment for a user or Group, and at the time of assignment set the conditions in which the Learning Program is successfully completed, such as type, passing threshold, number of days to complete the assignment, etc. In addition, a Learning Program can have multiple folders assigned to it, each with its own completion requirements, such as complete all, complete in order, or optional. Note: The Passing Threshold for a Learning Program is applied to each course within the Learning Program it is not a cumulative passing threshold The user s learning plan will display a single title for each learning program, with (LP) after the title. If you click the Learning Program name, the information about the Learning Program is displayed, including the Description. When the user clicks the Launch button, a window will display, explaining the steps to take the courses and receive credit. 71

72 Creating a New Learning Program Step 1: Select Learning Programs from the Content tab in the Admin interface. Step 2: On the Learning Programs page, click New Learning Program. Step 3: You will see the Info screen, where you can enter information about the learning plan you are creating, using the fields provided. The Title field is required. A learning program's "title" is what a user sees listed in their learning plan. It is also what administrators will see when making assignments, running reports, or editing this learning program. Note: To learn more about each information field, click the blue question-mark button (?) at the right of the screen. Place your mouse over each field to see a detailed explanation of the type of information that goes there. Click Save when complete. 72

73 Step 4: Click Introduction, at the left side of the screen. Here, you can enter any introductory text you want users to see when they open a learning program. (The default Introduction text will appear if no changes are made.) Click Save. Step 5: Next, click Contents. On this screen, you will be able to select the courses or modules that make up a learning plan. You have the option of creating Required and Optional modules. 73

74 Step 6: Select the contents of your learning program. There are 3 buttons at the top right of the Contents screen. Add Module (green button): Click this button to add a module/course. You will see a menu of courses. Select one or multiple courses, then click the Add button. Continue adding courses as needed. To help you find a course, you can filter by Module Type, or by Name (type all or part of a course name in the text field). Add Folder (yellow button): This button enables you to add a folder to the learning program - a set of courses within the overall learning program. Force Order (blue button): Select this button if you need your users to complete modules within a learning program in the order that you arrange them. If you do not specify the order, users will be able to complete any required modules in any order. Repeat the steps for the Optional section, if applicable. Click Save when finished. You will be returned to the main list of learning programs. 74

75 Courses included in a Learning program will share the same training requirement information (Date due, Passing Threshold, Valid For, etc. If a Learning Program assignment is edited after it has been assigned to users, the following rules will apply: If the Learning Program has been completed, the users will not have to complete based upon any updates to the Passing Threshold, and the Learning Program will stay marked as completed. If the Learning Program has been partially completed, any courses that had met the passing threshold prior to the change will not be subject to the new passing threshold. Any courses in the Learning Program that have not been completed will now need to meet the updated passing threshold percentage. If the Learning Program passing threshold is lowered and, based upon that lowered threshold a user would now be eligible to pass a course, the user must re-launch the course in order to receive an updated completion status. Only custom Learning prerequisites may be edited. Certain Learning Programs such as HAZWOPER Annual 8-hour Refresher are defined and provided by Skillsoft and cannot be customized. To edit these Learning Programs, an administrator must first copy the Learning Program and then edit the contents. A Learning Program cannot be edited after it is assigned to a user or demographic group. Copy a Learning Program Step 1: In the list of Learning Programs, select the title you wish to copy. Then click Copy. Step 2: Enter the necessary information about your copied Learning Program in the fields provided. Not all the fields will be editable. Step 3: Edit the learning program contents as necessary using the same methods from Create a Learning Program, above. Click save. Edit Information for a Learning Program Step 1: In the list of Learning Programs titles, select the radio button next to the Learning Program you wish to edit. Then click Edit Info. If you have several Learning Plans, you may filter Learning Program Titles by entering a title or part of a title in the field provided. Step 2: Make the necessary changes, then click save. Edit Contents of a Learning Program Step 1: In the list of Learning Programs titles, select the radio button next to the Learning Program you wish to edit. Then click Edit Contents. 75

76 Step 2: On the right, the learning programs contents are listed. You may select Complete all, Complete all in Order, and select a minimum time spent, if you wish. Step 3: Make changes. Select New Folder to create a new folder. Click a folder name, then Select Edit Folder to edit folder contents. Select Remove to delete a folder. Select Up or Down to change the order of the folder in the list of Learning Program Contents. Click save. Prerequisite Courses The prerequisite function allows you to require courses to be completed in a particular order. To assign prerequisite courses, follow these steps. Step 1: Select Content from the top menu and then Prerequisites from the drop-down menu. Step 2: Select the course title for which you want to create a prerequisite from the drop-down list. Step 3: Click Add. Step 4: On the Edit Prerequisite Courses screen, select the prerequisite course title from the drop-down list. You may also use the context-sensitive search box to find a course title. Step 5: Use the check box to indicate whether or not the due date of the selected course will be based on the completion date of the prerequisite course. Step 6: Click Done. 76

77 To Edit Prerequisite Courses: Step 1: Click Edit beside the course title Step 2: Add or delete associated prerequisite courses add using the steps above; delete by clicking the delete button beside any prerequisite course title you wish to remove. Step 3: Click Done. Equivalent Courses You can set courses as equivalent. When a user completes a WBT course or is granted a completion for a non-wbt, any equivalent course will be marked with a status of EQ and removed from the user s Learning Plan. Administrators set courses as equivalent by selecting the course, then selecting equivalent course(s) and the equivalent direction. Note: For equivalent courses to apply to a user, the user must have assignments for both courses. A user will not receive an equivalency automatically for any course not assigned to him, even if an equivalency relationship exists between the courses. Equivalency Direction If an equivalency is assigned as uni-directional (- ->), when the first course selected is completed, an equivalency is generated for the equivalent course(s). However, if the second course (or courses) is/are completed first, it will not generate an equivalency for the first course. If an equivalency is bi-directional (<- ->), completing either course generates an equivalency for the other course(s). 77

78 To create equivalent courses: Step 1: Select Content from the top menu and then select Equivalent Courses from the drop-down menu. Step 2: Select the course title for which you want to create equivalent courses from the pick list. Step 3: Click Add. Step 4: On the Edit Equivalent Courses screen, select the equivalent course title from the drop-down list. You may also use the context-sensitive search box to find a course title. Step 5: Select the equivalency direction (uni-directional or bi-directional (<- ->), from the drop-down menu. Step 6: Click Add. (Repeat steps 4 5 for all courses equivalent to the original title.) Step 7: Click Done. Any course with an associated equivalent course will display in the list on the Equivalent Courses page in the Academy. When a course is set as equivalent to another, any user with an existing completion for either course will immediately receive an EQ for the second. Courses may be equivalent to more than one course, and in those cases, a completion for any of the courses results in EQs for all others in the group. However, EQs assigned automatically by the system for a course which has other equivalent courses do not result in EQs for the additional courses. This prevents cascading equivalencies. 78

79 Example: Back Safety is equivalent to Ergonomics Awareness and Office Ergonomics. Ergonomics Awareness is equivalent to Back Safety and Computer Ergonomics. A user completes Back Safety. This user will receive an EQ for Ergonomics Awareness and Office Ergonomics, but not Computer Ergonomics. An equivalency or exemption assigned manually by an administrator using the Assign Exemptions/Equivalencies in the Academy functions the same as a completion, and any course set as equivalent will also be marked with an EQ. Example: Back Safety is equivalent to Ergonomics Awareness and Office Ergonomics. Ergonomics Awareness is equivalent to Back Safety and Computer Ergonomics. An administrator grants a user an Exemption for Back Safety. This user will receive an EQ for Ergonomics Awareness and Office Ergonomics. To Edit Equivalent Courses: Step 1: Click Edit beside the course title Step 2: Add or delete associated equivalent courses. Add using the steps above; delete by clicking the delete button beside any equivalent course title you wish to remove. Step 3: Click Done. Note: If an equivalent course is deleted, any users who have been granted an EQ for that course as a result of completing the equivalent course will retain his or her equivalency. To delete those equivalencies, follow the Exemptions and Equivalencies instructions under User Information. 79

80 Reports Using the Academy Reporting Features, you can view and/or print records for each user in your Academy. For most reports, you can sort by user, or filter by demographics, status, or group by dates. Select reports by clicking the Reports link in the top menu, then select Advanced Reporting. The reports page is organized by Group Reports, User Reports, Reports, and General Administrative Reports. Group Reports Completions Only Run this report to view all training completed by a group of users. This report also includes training that was granted an exemption or equivalency. The filters available for this report course title, course status, delivery method, demographic labels, training type, user status, and date. The groupings available for this report are course (default) and user. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv (optionally demographic labels may be included). If a date filter is specified for this report, the filter is applied to the users completion dates. Exemptions/Equivalencies Run this report to view exemptions and equivalencies issued to users. This report also includes the justification text entered for the exemptions and equivalencies. The filters available for this report are course title, course status, delivery method, demographic labels, training type, user status, and date. The groupings available for this report are course (default) and user. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. If a date filter is specified for this report, the filter is applied to the date the exemption or equivalency was granted. Training Status Run this report to view the training status by a group of users. The report will include courses that are overdue, not started, in progress, and completed. This report also includes learning plan assignments that were granted an exemption or equivalency. The filters available for this report are course title, course status, delivery method, demographic labels, training type, training status, user status, and date. The groupings 80

81 available for this report are course (default) and user. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv (optionally demographic labels may be included). If a date filter is specified for this report, the filter is applied to the users due dates. Not-started optional course assignments are not returned in this report. User Report Completions Only Run this report to view all training completed by an individual user. This report also includes training that was granted an exemption or equivalency. The filters available for this report course title, course status, delivery method, demographic labels, training type, user status, and date. The groupings available for this report are alphabetical by course title or sorted by completion date. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. This report may also be run from the User Information page. Select Run User Report in Step 1. If a date filter is specified for this report, the filter is applied to the user s completion dates. Exemptions/Equivalencies Only Run this report to view exemptions and equivalencies issued to users. This report also includes the justification text entered for the exemptions and equivalencies. The filters available for this report are course title, course status, delivery method, demographic labels, training type, user status, and date. The groupings available for this report are alphabetical by course title or sorted by completion date. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. This report may also be run from the User Information page. Select Run User Report in Step 1. If a date filter is specified for this report, the filter is applied to the date the exemption or equivalency was granted. Training Status Run this report to view all training completed by an individual user. The report will include courses that are overdue, not started, in progress, and completed. This report also includes learning plan assignments that were granted an exemption or equivalency. The filters available for this report are course title, course status, delivery method, demographic labels, training type, training status, user status, and date. The groupings available for this report are alphabetical by course title or sorted by completion date. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. This report may also be run from the User Information page. Select Run 81

82 User Report in Step 1. If a date filter is specified for this report, the filter is applied to the user s due dates. Not-started optional course assignments are not returned in this report. Important: Removal of old course starts Each Advanced Compliance site has a setting which will be used to identify and remove old course starts. The number of days will be configurable. By default, all sites are set to 3 years, but you can contact your Skillsoft Example: A user has Ergonomics Awareness assigned as optional in 2014 and starts the course at that time. In 2017, the course becomes required for that individual. It would not be wise for partial progress from over 3 years ago to be maintained. This course start would be removed by the nightly processor at the point of expiration determined by the setting in Advanced Compliance. representative to request a different period of time. The purpose of this feature is to prevent the linking of old course starts to new, more stringent course requirements. A process will run nightly to check for any course start (never completed) older than the specified time period and these starts will be reset. Training Assignments by User Run this report to view a list of learning plan assignments associated with a user. The learning plan assignments will be further identified by delivery method, valid period, passing threshold, required/optional, original due date, assignment type (RCD/RDD), due date (for RDD requirements), retraining due date, and group where assignment was made. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. This report may also be run from the User Information page. Select Run User Report in Step 1. User Report, Learning Plan Run this report to view a user s learning plan exactly as it is presented to the user through the Academy. Courses will be grouped by overdue, required, and optional. 82

83 Notifications Report Data for reports are maintained in the Academy for 6 months. Reports may be filtered for a shorter time period (e.g. sent in the past 7 days), but data older than 6 months cannot be returned and viewed in reports. General Administrative Reports Equivalent Courses (web only) Run this report to view a list of equivalent courses. Unused Demographics (web only) Run this report to view a list of demographics that have not been assigned to users or used to create demographic groups. 83

84 Demographics Summary Run this report to view a list of demographic categories and demographic names. The Demographics Summary Report indicates where and how demographic labels are used. This helps administrators see and avoid deleting a demographic label that is in use. Users by Demographic Run this report to view a list of users associated with a demographic or several demographics. The users are identified by User ID, name, and user status. User Information Report (CSV only) Run this report to view all information associated with a user including User ID, security level, address, supervisor s address, user status, and associated demographics. The filters for this report are demographics and user status. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. Training Assignments by Demographic Run this report to view a list of learning plan assignments associated with each demographic group at any given time. The learning plan assignments will be further identified with delivery method, required/optional, initial training period, assignment type (RCD/RDD), due date (for RDD requirements), passing threshold, and group where assignment was made. The filters for this report are course title and demographic labels. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. User with Individual Training Assignments (CSV only) Run this report to view the training assignments that were made on an individual basis. This report is only available in a.csv format. Each learning plan assignment will be identified with UserID, user name, course ID, course name, curriculum (if assigned from a curriculum), delivery method, validity (in days), passing threshold, required/optional, original due date, assignment type (RCD/RDD), whether it was assigned as a group or individual requirement, group where it was assigned (if applicable), whether the group or individual assignment is most stringent (if applicable). Learning Plan Assignments Summary (CSV only) Run this report to view a list of training assignments by demographic names. Completions Summary by Demographics for Required Courses (CSV Only) Run this report to view completion summary data for required courses associated with each defined demographic group(s). Prerequisites (Web Only) Run this report to view the prerequisites which include the selected courses. 84

85 User Report, Run this report to view a list of all s sent to a user. You can filter by type and by period of time (e.g. sent in last 7 days). This report will include Title, User Name, User ID, User Address, date the was sent and if the is recurring. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. Group Report, Run this report to view a list of s sent to a group of users. You can filter the list by user status, type, period of time and job function. This report will include Title, User Name, User ID, User Address, date the was sent and if the is recurring. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. Supervisor Report, Run this report to view a list of s sent to supervisors. You can filter this report by period of time. This report will show title, address of the supervisor, date the was sent, and if the is recurring. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. Administrator Report, Run this report to view a list of s sent to administrators. You can filter this report by period of time. This report will show title, address of the administrator, date the was sent, and if the is recurring. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. Invalid Report Run this report to view all s flagged as failed due to an invalid or mal-formed address. You can correct addresses for users, supervisor or administrators identified here by clicking Notifications and then Address Mgmt. Output types available are web browser,.pdf, and.csv. Saved Reports For many report types, you can save search criteria. To save a report type in this way, enter a title for your report in the Report Title box, and then click Save Reports. To view your saved reports, select the Saved Reports link on the Reports main page. This will take you to a page that summarizes the reports and gives you the option to run, edit, or delete them. 85

86 How to Run a Report Note: Reports for an individual user may also be run from User Information. Step 1: To begin, click on the type of report you want to run. Step 2: Select the criteria needed to run your report query. To filter the list of courses, enter the search criteria in the Search box. Step 3: You will need to select the type of report output: Web Browser: Will display the report in your web browser for immediate viewing PDF: Displays report in PDF format. May be viewed in your browser using the Adobe Reader plugin. CSV: Will display the report in a comma-delimited format that may be uploaded into data management applications such as Microsoft Excel. For CSV reports, you have the option of including user demographics in the report output. You should save this file to disk rather than viewing in your browser. 86

87 Step 4: Click Run Report. Note: PDF and CSV report outputs will take a few minutes to download, depending on the requested file size. To view the reports, return to Current Reports. You will need to click Reports to refresh the page. You will now see the report under Current Reports. All report queries requested in PDF or CSV format will remain on the Reports Menu for 48 hours. 87

88 Setup Under the Setup link, you will see the following options for your Academy site: Notifications News Feed Site Configuration Security Setup Notifications This option allows you to make decisions concerning the use of the Automatic Notification System. The system can be configured to send notifications to the user, the user s supervisor, and the Administrator. If you desire to activate the system for users, select Setup from the top menu, then select Notifications from the pull-down menu. The Notifications window will then appear. The table below shows the standard s and the associated distribution. Title Initial Training Notice Overdue Training Note User Welcome Supervisor User Status Training Administrator Report Distribution Description User User User Supervisor Administrator You can also create custom s for users or supervisors. Available custom types include: User - Recurring User -Training Reminder User - Non-Recurring Supervisor - Recurring Supervisor - Non-Recurring Administrator Recurring Administrator Training Reminder 88

89 Recurring s are sent on a specified frequency (e.g. twice per month, weekly, etc.). Non-recurring s are a one-time event sent to a group of users or supervisors. Customizable Fields Each type has customizable fields and settings. From Name: A name to appear in the From: field in the . To Name: The name to appear in the To field in the . This defaults to the user s name. Subject: The subject line of the . Data Sort Order: The order of data in the report included in the . The default sort order for each is as follows: User s: Due Date, Course Title, Course Type Supervisor s: User Name, Due Date Descending, Course Title Administrator s: Supervisor Name, User Name, Due Date Descending, Course title You can choose the following sort order by selecting it on the pull-down menu: User s: Course Title, Due Date, Course Type Supervisor s: Course Title, Due Date Descending, User Name Administrator s: Supervisor Name, Course title, Due Date Descending, User Name Text: The body of the can be customized to meet your specific notification needs. The body is limited to 8000 characters. Areas in the text where data is inserted for the recipient are indicated by a yellow highlight. It is recommended you leave these areas of the message intact. Distribution List: The audience who will receive the . For Custom types, this audience may be filtered by demographic, course title, user status, course due date, or course assigned date. If no users meet the criteria established in the distribution list settings, no s will be sent. You may give the distribution list a custom title, if you choose. This title is displayed on the Main page of the Configuration screen and is simply for your reference. Start Date: The date on which an will first process. Frequency: For recurring s, the frequency at which the configuration will be evaluated. If any users meet the criteria established in the distribution list settings, the will be sent. 89

90 Note: User Initial Training Notices and Overdue Training Notices will only be sent one time for each course meeting the criteria. The addition of new users or assignments will prompt an notice, but a user will not receive multiple messages for a specific course. Welcome messages will only be sent one time to each user, based on the date the user is added to the Academy. The table below shows which of these fields may be customized for each type. Type From Name Subject Data Sort Order Text Distribution List Start Date Frequency Initial Training Notice Overdue Training Notice X - X X - X - X - X X - X - User Welcome X X - X - X - Supervisor User Status Report Training Administrator Report X - X X - X X X - X X X X X User - Recurring X X X X X X X User - Training Reminder User - Nonrecurring Supervisor - Recurring X X X X X X - X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 90

91 Type From Name Subject Data Sort Text Distribution List Start Date Frequency Order Supervisor Training Reminder Supervisor -Nonrecurring Administrator Recurring Administrator Training Reminder Administrator - Non-recurring X X X X X X - X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X - X X X X X X X Types of Initial Training Notice The initial training notice will send an to users who have Send s: Yes and have an address configured in their User Information profile. Initial Notices are sent each night to users who had new learning plan assignments added to their requirements on the previous day. The will include the course(s) have been assigned and when the courses are due. Overdue Training Notice The overdue training notice will send an to users who have Send s: Yes and have an address configured in their User Information profile. Overdue Training Notices are sent each night to users who had learning plan assignments become overdue on the previous day. The will include the overdue course(s) and the course due date(s). Click on edit to view the Overdue Training Notice configuration screen. User Welcome Notice The User Welcome notice will send an to users who have Send s: Yes and an address configured in their User Information profile. User Welcome notices are sent to users on the night after they are added to the Academy, and also to users added in the past 60 days who have not already received a 91

92 Welcome notice. The will include the web address (URL) for the Academy, the User ID, and password. The notice also includes instructions for accessing the Learning plan, launching a course, and Customer Service contact information. Custom User Non-recurring/Recurring You can create custom s for users, either recurring or non-recurring. Users who receive a custom are determined by the distribution list criteria. For recurring and non-recurring s, schedules are based on a calendar date and recurrence interval. All users who meet the distribution criteria within the period specified (e.g. Due within 90 days), will receive the . Custom User Training Reminder Training reminder s for users are similar to recurring user s. However, the frequency on which the is sent is based on the user, not a calendar schedule. For example, a Training Status set for Due in 90 days will each user due in exactly 90 days. Example: John Doe has Back Safety due 1/31/2018 and Asbestos Awareness due 2/15/2018. Jane Doe has Back Safety due 3/1/2018 For a Training Reminder set to any user with a course due in 90 days, s will be sent to these users on the following date: John Doe, Back Safety 11/2/2017 Jane Doe, Back Safety 12/1/2017 John Doe, Asbestos Awareness 11/17/2017 Supervisor User Status Report This standard will send notices to supervisors every 2 weeks, summarizing the training status for users reporting to them. The text, sort order, schedule and start date are configurable. The report includes users with courses due in 30 days, overdue, and completed in the past 30 days. Custom Administrator Non-recurring/Recurring You can create custom administrator s, either recurring or non-recurring. The administrators who receive custom s are determined by the list of administrators entered in the target recipients list on the distribution list screen. You may enter up to 25 administrator addresses for each custom . The users summarized in the may be further filtered in the Distribution List settings, as well. 92

93 Custom Administrator Training Reminder Training Reminders for Administrators are similar to custom recurring Administrator s. However, the frequency that the is sent is based on the due dates of the users in the distribution list settings, not a calendar schedule. For example, a Training Reminder set for Due in 90 days will send an to the administrators in the Target Recipient list summarizing each user who is due in exactly 90 days from the send date. Custom Supervisor Non-recurring/Recurring You can create custom supervisor s, either recurring or non-recurring. The supervisors who receive custom s are determined by the distribution list settings for the . The supervisors of all users who meet the distribution criteria will receive the message. Training Administrator Report The standard Training Administrator Report will send summary reports in.csv format to all administrators in the Academy. By default, any user with security level 10 in the Academy is included in the distribution list. This list may be edited manually by clicking Edit beside the Training Administrator configuration in the Standard table on the Main screen. Summary reports include all users in the Academy who have courses due in 30 days, are overdue, or have completed courses in the past 30 days. Because these reports have the potential to be quite large, they are included as.csv attachments to the s. Creating Custom s 93

94 To create a custom , follow the steps below: Step 1: Click New Custom s Configuration. Step 2: Select the custom type. Step 3: Click Next. For customizing and editing configurations, see the information below. Configurations There are 5 pages for creating, editing and reviewing s: 1. Content 2. Distribution List 3. Schedule 4. Review Setup 5. Preview To edit or customize an , see the information below: Step 1: Click Actions>Edit beside the name. Step 2: On the Content screen you can enter an title for custom types to help you identify the configuration at a later time. This title will appear in the list on the Main screen. titles for the standard s cannot be customized. You can also edit the From Name, Data Sort Order, and Text on this screen. The default Course Report embedded in the body sends the following information to the user: Course (title), Due Date, Type (Req/Opt), and Status. However, if you wish to change the default, use the Fields pulldown menu to choose Courses Report Title Only or Courses Report Title/Due Date Only. 94

95 Step 3: Click the Next button at the bottom of the screen to navigate to the Distribution List. Step 4: You can create a title for your distribution list as a reminder of the group you are selecting. You can determine who receives the by filtering on course title, course status, user status, training type, due date, assigned date, and demographic. If you want to include all courses, be sure to select the All Courses checkbox. The default distribution list is all required courses not started or incomplete, for active users due within 90 days. For Administrator s, you can specify up to 25 recipients. If you do not specify addresses, the Academy will look for any Company Administrators with addresses, and will use this as the default list of administrators to receive the message. If All courses is selected and the Delivery Method filter for non-wbt only is applied, then only non-wbt courses would be in the . The same is true if WBT only or WBT-LP is selected (only web-based courses or learning programs would be included in the .) If All Courses is not selected, the delivery method filter will default to the titles you choose in the Courses included in this selection box. Course Title: To filter the list by course assignment, click in the box labeled Courses included in this . A scrolling menu of course titles will appear. You can select multiple courses from the list. For s filtered by course, only users who have those courses assigned will receive an , and only the 95

96 selected course titles will be summarized in the report. For supervisor s, only supervisors of the users meeting the distribution list criteria will receive the . Course Status: You can also filter the distribution list by course status Not Started or Incomplete; Not Started, Incomplete, Complete, Overdue. User Status: You can elect to send the to active users only, inactive users only, or both active and inactive users. Training Type and Date: You can select the to go only to users who have the course(s) as required, optional or both. Likewise, you can filter the list by due date or assignment date. Note: If the s are set for users with both optional and required courses, the due date filter is not applied to the optional course assignments. Therefore, any user with the specified course(s) assigned as optional will receive the , even if a Due Within filter is applied. By selecting Due Within, the will go out to users who have the course due any time during the period specified here e.g. Due within 30 days. If Next is selected, the distribution list is filtered for users with courses due in the future. If Last is selected, the list is filtered for users who are overdue, or who had the course Due within the past X days. Note: When Due Within the past X days is selected, only users with overdue training will be returned. Assigned Within may be selected in place of Due Within. In this case, the distribution is filtered based on the date the course was assigned to the user. Here, only Last will return users, and Next is not applicable. For example, Users who have had the course Assigned within the Last 30 days will receive the . Selecting the checkbox Include ALL overdue courses will add all overdue training records to the distribution list, regardless of how the has been configured. 96

97 Demographics: You can further filter the distribution list by selecting certain demographics. Only users who meet all the demographics specified will receive the . Multiple demographics can be selected. For example, in the demographic Job Role, you may select multiple values such as Welder, Engineer and Operator. A user s demographic value only needs to match one of the multiple values to receive the . For example, a user with Job Role = Engineer would get the message, as would a user with Job Role = Welder or a user whose Job Role was both Engineer and Welder (in the case of multiple demographics). If more than one demographic category is used to define the distribution list, a user s labels must match at least one of each of the categories. For example, if the distribution list includes Location = Knoxville, or London, AND Job Role = Welder or Engineer, a user with the job role = Engineer but Location = Dallas would NOT get the message. A user with Job Role = Engineer and Location = Knoxville would get the message. A user with job role = Welder and no location defined would NOT get the message. Step 5: Click the Next button at the bottom of the screen to navigate to the Schedule. Step 6: Enter the date you want the s to start, and for recurring s the frequency it should be sent. The frequency for standard user s is not editable. Step 7: Click the Next button at the bottom of the screen to navigate to the Review Setup screen. Here you can review the distribution list settings and schedule. Scroll to the bottom of this screen to see the link for Estimated Distribution List. This will generate an estimation of the users who will receive the the next time it runs. The run time will depend on the customer configuration in the Review Setup options. Step 8: Click the Next button at the bottom of the screen to navigate to the Preview page. On this screen you can review the format and custom text of the message. Step 9: Click Done to return to the Main screen. 97

98 Step 10: To activate the , click the Active checkbox beside the new configuration. Anytime you edit an configuration, you must reactivate the on the Main screen. The default text for each type is shown in Appendix 3. Note: Administrators may make copies of existing custom s. You can copy the content, distribution list, and schedule of a custom to a new custom . Find the custom title you wish to copy, then select Actions>Copy. Setup From the main Configurations screen, you can edit setup options by clicking Setup on the left-hand menu. You can enter the number of retry attempts for any message the system deemed undeliverable. By default, the system will try to resend any for seven days. s are flagged for resend if the system cannot create or send the message or the nightly system fails at any point during processing. You can also specify the default URL you want included in s. This will be the URL to which the user is directed to log-in to the Academy. If the default URL is changed, the URL in existing configurations is not modified. You can also elect to have users receive s in HMTL format clicking the checkbox beside Use HTML. You can also elect to use international date format in the s. 98

99 Address Management s returned due to incorrect addresses or malformed addresses get flagged as failed. You can find all failed user, supervisor or administrator s by clicking Address Mgmt from the main screen. You can elect to fix and resend any failed message by clicking Fix/Resend button beside the message. You can also manage supervisor addresses from this page by clicking Supervisor Management. You can replace one supervisor address with another. All users who have the original supervisor address in their User Information will automatically be updated to the new supervisor address. This provides a mechanism for correcting malformed supervisor address or changing all users associated with one supervisor to another supervisor. News Feed Here, you can create and publish articles that will be displayed in the users News Feed on the Home page. The first screen you see will show you a list of all the articles that are published on the News Feed. From here you can choose to create a new article, or select an existing article and edit, copy, publish or unpublish it. Default News Feed Articles The first three articles in the list are the default News Feed articles. To remove one of these from the News Feed, select it and click the Unpublish button. If you want to edit or change one of the default articles, we recommend making a copy of the original and editing it to your preference. Simply unpublish the original and publish the customized version. 99

100 Note: The only setting you can edit for a default news feed article is the pinned/not pinned setting and pinned order. Default news feed articles are indicated by italicized text in the article list. Creating and Deleting Articles To create a new article, click the New Article button. You will first see the Info tab, with options to enter the article title and author, as well as start/end dates for an article to appear in the News Feed. There is also an option to pin the article so that it appears at the top of the News Feed. Pinned articles are sorted in descending order by date. These choices can be edited later by selecting the article in the list of titles and clicking edit. If you want to delete an article you have previously created, select it and click Inactivate. Inactivation removes this article from the user News Feed. Be aware that inactivating an article will remove it completely from the list, which will prevent it from being published or edited in the future. Title and Start Date are required fields for every article. After filling out the relevant fields on the Info screen, click Save, then select Article in the left tab to display the screen where you will enter and edit the text of your article. Notice the text editing tools you can use to add hyperlinks and modify the appearance of the article text. You also have the option of inserting an image file (GIF, JPG, JPEG, or PNG) or a video (MP4) into your article. Use Choose File to browse for a file, and select 100

101 Media Display Size if you wish to change the size. Any media inserted into an article will appear at the top of the article. When you are satisfied with the article, click Save and Publish to publish it to the News Feed (you may also simply save your entries on either screen, without publishing, if you wish to finalize the article later). Finally, click Exit to get back to the main News Feed screen. Note: The article will not appear on the News Feed until the start date entered on the Info tab. Language-Specific Capability The default News Articles will appear to users in their chosen language. You can also upload articles in several languages supported by Academy. To offer articles in multiple languages, publish the English article first, then select that article and click Create Translation. On the Info page, use the Article Language pulldown menu to choose the language, then enter your translated title and article text, save and publish. Users will then only see that article in the language selected for their academy. 101

102 Site Configuration Under Site Configuration, you can modify the appearance of the Academy to represent your organization or match corporate branding by uploading a custom logo, changing the site colors, and by changing the number and/or type of activities displayed in the Activity Feed. Logos The first thing you will see under Site Configuration is the Logos screen. You can leave the default logos in place or select custom to upload your own logo image file. You can choose different logos for users and administrators interfaces, or use the same for both. The recommended dimension for a logo image is 200 x 35 pixels for best screen resolution. When you select custom for either the User Interface logo or the Administrative Interface logo, you will get an option to Choose File. When you click Choose File, you can browse to find a logo file on your computer. Logo files must be.gif,.jpg,.jpeg, or.png format. 102

103 Site Colors If you would like to change the default colors of the Academy user interface, you can do so on the Colors tab. Notice the color selectors to the left of the page preview display. With these color selectors you can enter hexadecimal values or use a color picker to create and save a wide range of colors, which will immediately show in the preview. Use your mouse to hover over different parts of the preview image. Notice that each customizable part will be highlighted, and the corresponding color selectors will be indicated with arrows. This will help you see and choose colors for the page header, background colors, text, hyperlinks, icons, and borders. You can choose to save your color scheme, revert to the default colors, or restore the last color scheme you saved. Activity Feed The activity feed is the area of the user interface that shows a quick listing of what training has been assigned and when, and other updates and activities related to the user s assignments. Hyperlinks in the activity feed allow users to jump directly to assignments, courses or completion certificates. Administrators can control the types of activities and number of items displayed. Use the fields on the Activity Feed screen to: Display Activity Feed or disable it Enter the number of activities to display (up to 50) Select the types of activities to include in the Feed. 103

104 Be sure to save your selections when you have finished. 104

105 Security Setup In this option, you will set up levels of administrative access to your Academy. The Administrator may designate levels of access for each administrative page or function. For example, the academy administrator may designate several administrators who will have varying levels of access for reporting, user information, learning plan assignments, etc. Navigate to Security Setup by clicking the Setup link in the top menu, then selecting Security Setup from the pull-down menu. There are two levels of access for each administrative function: Read Only access and Read/Change access. The Read Only level allows the user to view a specific page or function but the user is not permitted to make entries or to edit existing information. The Read/Change level allows the user to view the page and create or edit entries. Setting up your academy s security levels is a four-step process. Follow the steps described below to define and set up your access security levels: Step 1: Define a Security Level This step is used to define the various levels of security access associated with your Academy. Up to 10 security levels may be defined for each function of your Academy. Your security levels can be based on your organizational structure or any configuration you desire. The user access level, by default, is defined at Level 1, while the Administrator level is defined at Level 10. You can define additional levels of security (2-9) as required. To define security levels in your academy: Select the level of access (1-10) from the pull-down menu Type the security level title in the field (e.g., supervisor) Click Add To change the name of a defined level: Select the appropriate level of access Type in the new name of the security level Click Add. This will replace the name previously associated with that level. 105

106 Step 2: Select Admin Menu In this step, you will select each level at which the administrative functions menu will appear in the navigation side bar. To select this level, click each box under Admin Menu. All users assigned to the selected Admin Menu level will be able to view the administrative functions menu. Once security levels have been defined, and the Admin Menu selections have been selected, you can now assign security level access to each page or function (Step 3). Step 3: Change Security Access to a Page or Function Select the lowest level of Read Only access for each page or function Select the lowest level of Read/Change access for that page or function Click Submit Note: Read/Change access cannot be set to a level lower than Read Access. IMPORTANT: Only the administrator will have access to the Initial Setup and Demographic interviews. 106

107 Step 4: Assigning Security Levels to Individual Users To assign a level of security (2 10) for an individual, go to the Administrative Function s User Information option. All users in the academy are automatically assigned Level 1 access by default. Therefore, to increase an individual s level of access, you will need to change it in the User Information option. Important: The security level of any user can only be upgraded as high as the security level of the person accessing and editing the user information fields. For example, only an administrator with a defined security level of 10 can upgrade another user s security level to 10 Note: If user information has been pre-loaded into your Academy by Skillsoft, you can perform Step 4 at this time by clicking User Information on the left side of your screen. Step 5: Demographic Delimiter A demographic delimiter will enable you to limit what data is viewable by administrators in your Academy. If you choose to use a demographic delimiter, administrators who have a security level at or below the selected level will only have access to users with the same demographic label as the administrator. The category used to filter the data can also be selected below. 107

108 Learning Plan Functionality The Learning plan displays assignments that have been made to users by Administrators in the Academy. Assignments are grouped with Overdue assignments displayed first, then Required assignments, and then Optional assignments. If courses are assigned as part of a Curriculum Group, those courses are displayed by the name of the Curriculum Group. Other Courses If Administrators have assigned non-wbt to users, the course delivery method is indicated by an icon. A description is displayed as alt text with the full name of the course delivery method. Retraining When a user completes a Learning Plan assignment, it is removed from the Learning Plan. Users may relaunch and review any completed assignment in their Transcript (in the Transcript, select Actions>Launch for each course you wish to review). 108

109 If an assignment requires retraining, it will reappear on the Learning Plan at the end of the administratordefined period before retraining occurs, with the new retraining due date shown. In addition, the user s previous completion date or any course progress will be reset. If notification is activated, users will receive notification of training due. Curriculum Groups Courses assigned in Curriculum Groups are indicated in the learning plan by the Curriculum Group icon and the title of the group. If the Administrator has entered a description for the curriculum group, it can be viewed by clicking the Info button next to the group title. All courses within the Curriculum Group, the required passing score, and how often the courses must be completed are included in the Curriculum Group description box. 109

110 One-Time Only Training After users successfully complete a learning plan assignment considered one-time training, it is removed from the Learning Plan, but users can review the course material from their Transcript (select Actions>Launch). The course will remain viewable on the Transcript for one year. Exemptions/Equivalencies If an exemption or equivalency has been assigned for a course, that assignment will no longer appear on the user s Learning Plan. It will appear in reports. Upon expiration of the exemption or equivalency, the assignment will appear again on the user s Learning Plan. Each Academy has a setting which will be used to identify and remove old course starts. The number of days will be configurable by Academy. By default, all Academies are set to 3 years, but you can contact your Skillsoft representative to request a different period of time. The purpose of this feature is to prevent the linking of old course starts to new, more stringent course requirements. A process will run nightly to check for any course start (never completed) older than the specified time period, and these starts will be reset. Example: A user has Ergonomics Awareness assigned as optional in 2014 and starts the course at that time. In 2018, the course becomes required for that individual. It would not be wise for partial progress from over 3 years ago to be maintained. This course start would be removed by the nightly processor at the point of expiration determined by the Academy setting. 110

111 Glossary A Administrative Functions: Primary navigation features that allow the Administrator to set up and monitor users in an Academy. Assign Completions: A method to track learning plan assignments with a delivery method other than the Web (e.g., video, classroom, CD, etc.). Associated Document: A document that is designated as required reading for completion of course requirements. Once the document has been assigned as a learning plan assignment, users will be able to click on a link in the Learning Plan to access the document file. C Client Drivers: Policies and procedures within an organization that mandate training for employees. Completion Record: A record either of current completion or historical completion. The record is for one user, one course. When a user launches a course from the learning plan, a completion record is created. A current completion record may be either completed or started. A current completion record does not become "completed" until the user passes all exams or KFs. Course Category: A broad description used to categorize courses in the Library option such as HR, Health and Safety, and Environmental. Course Reset Date: Course reset date=date user completed course+ valid-for period - 90 days Current Completion: A completion record, which is linked to a current requirement and, if completed, appear as a completed course both in the user's learning plan and on reports. Current Requirement: A record, signifying that this course is currently assigned to the user (regardless if the user has completed the course). A current requirement will display for the user in both Learning Plan and My Transcripts. Curriculum Group: An optional feature that allows you to organize your course offerings. A curriculum group contains several learning plan assignments that make up a curriculum. 111

112 D Delivery Method: The instructional method used to present course content (e.g., classroom, video, CBT, CD). Demographic: Information related to the organizational structure associated with a user (Job Function, Site, Division, etc.). All reports and curriculum assignments are based on demographic categories. Demographic Group: A category of users who share similar training needs. A demographic group must be defined prior to making a learning plan assignment. E Notification: A feature that allows automated reminders and reports to be sent to users, their immediate supervisor, and the Administrator. Equivalency: A credit awarded to a user for previous training, education, and/or work experience. Exemption: The learning plan assignment is specifically removed, e.g., the learning plan assignment will be waived. H Historical completion: A completion record. An exemption/equivalency in history would also qualify as a historical completion. A completion is pushed into the historical table when 1) the completion expires and the course is ready for retraining or 2) the learning plan assignment (and any path of inheritance for that course) is completely removed from the user or group. Historical requirement: A record which may be a previous instance of a course for which the user still has a current requirement, meaning the user still has this course assigned to him/her but this instance was completed, expired and moved to history; or this may be a requirement previously assigned to the user and the learning plan assignment has been removed entirely from the user or the demographic group. For a requirement to be in history, there must be an associated completion or exemption/equivalency for that requirement. A historical requirement will show for a user only in My Transcripts I Inherited Learning plan assignments: If a learning plan assignment has been established for All members of a particular demographic category (e.g., Site), all subsequent demographic groups associated with that particular site will inherit the learning plan assignment. 112

113 Initial Setup: A feature that guides the Administrator through decisions regarding user access to the Academy and the Automatic Notification System. Initial Training: Initial Training is defined as the first instance a learning plan assignment is assigned, where the learning plan assignment s valid-for date is established as anything other than one-time training in the Academy. When an administrator assigns a course to a Demographic group or user for the first time, it is considered initial training. A user may also receive initial training when a new requirement is assigned and all previous completions for that course are invalid (see Valid Completion). Initial Training Decision: The option for assigning new or initial training. Options include calendar-date or "due within X days" from receiving the requirement. L Learning plan: A user s listing of all assigned courses (required and optional learning plan assignments). Learning plan assignment (Individual): If a user has a unique learning plan assignment above and beyond or different from the requirements designated for a demographic group, training can be assigned to the user as required. Learning plan assignment (Group): A course that is required for a group of users by virtue of their job task duties. Learning Program: An administrative function that allows the administrator to assign a group of courses and designate completion requirements, such as complete all, complete in order, minimum duration in hours, etc. A Learning Program can have multiple folders assigned to it, each with its own completion requirements. Library: A comprehensive directory of all available training courses as well as information on each course in the Academy. The function provides a method to add or delete course titles to your online library. N New User: Any user added to the Academy after learning plan assignments have been assigned to the Demographic groups. O One-Time Training: One-time training never expires, and therefore is not considered retraining. One-time training will remain on the Learning Plan for one year following completion. 113

114 "Open for retraining" window: This is the period of time before a course is due in which a user can launch the course and create a completion record. X-days will be a configurable number for each TR. OrgGroup info: The parameters set for a particular learning plan assignment. When a new assignment is set in the Academy, a record is created. We refer to the parameters set for this assignment (e.g. Initial Training decision, training type, required/optional, due date, validity period, test out, passing threshold, etc.) as OrgGroup info. P Passing Threshold: The minimum test score allowed for successful completion of the learning plan assignment. Primary Drivers: The main regulatory drivers for a course that mandate the training be provided (e.g., OSHA). Push completion to history: Move a current completion record to history. If the completion is completed, the requirement and completion will be preserved in the historical tables and continue to show on the Training Status reports. If the completion is only a start (not completed), it and the requirement will be deleted in this process. R RCD: Recurring on Completion Date, equivalent to frequency-based training. Next due dates are calculated off last completion dates. RDD: Retraining on Due Date, equivalent to calendar-based training. Next due dates are calculated off previous due dates. (e.g. due 12/31/14, next due is 12/31/15). Requirement: A training assignment; one course assigned to a user either through a Demographic group or an Individual Learning Plan assignment. A course assigned to a user results in a record. The term has no implication on required versus optional. An optional assignment is referred to as a "requirement. Restricted Access: An Initial Setup feature that allows the Administrator to control access to the Academy. Under this option, a user must be pre-registered before they are able to log in and generate a record. Restricted access requires the use of a User ID and password, which must be distributed to the user. Resurrect completion: Extract a completed completion and its associated learning plan assignment record from the historical tables and make them current. 114

115 Retraining: Retraining is defined as any subsequent completion of the learning plan assignment following initial training. Retraining occurs as often as specified in the Learning Plan assignment s valid-for field and is dependent upon the user s completion date of initial training. Retraining due date=date user completed course+valid-for period. S Security Setup: Designated levels of access for each of the Academy s administrative functions. T Test-Out: A comprehensive test at the beginning of the course. If the user s score meets or exceeds the minimum passing threshold, they are not required to complete the course and will receive credit for the course. Training Administrator: A person or person(s) who have full unrestricted access to all the Academy s administrative functions. U User Status: Users have a status of either 1) Active or 2) Inactive. V Valid completion: A completion which, based on completion date, meets the criteria for a current requirement. This may be either a historical or current completion. A valid completion must be in the window between today (the day the user receives the learning plan assignment) and today valid for period. (E.g. A completion for Back Safety on or after 12/1/2014 would be valid for a requirement for Back Safety due every 1 year, assigned on 12/1/2019. A completion on or before 11/30/2014 would not be valid for this requirement.) Valid-for Period: The period for which training is considered valid. Training expires after the valid-for period has elapsed. 115

116 Appendix 1 Default Values Default values have been established to maintain integrity of existing learning plan assignments and to provide continuity in the Academy behavior administrators currently expect. Likewise, these will be the default values and settings administrators will see when adding a new requirement. User Information: In Release 2.7, New User status has been removed. Users will be set to either Active or Inactive. Active is the default for pick lists. Training Policies: Open For Retraining will default to 90 days. This default value can be configured by organization. This value is used on the Assign/Edit Training screens for both groups and individuals. Initial training due in X days after receiving course will default to 90 days. This default value can be configured by organization. This value is used on the Assign/Edit Training screens for both groups and individuals. Delete Starts Older than X days will default to 1825 days (5 years). This value can also be configured by Organization. This value determines when a start record (student begins the course, but never completes it) will be purged from the system. Learning plan assignments: If a current requirement is flagged as One Time Only, the value will be set to One Time Only. All other requirements will be set to Recurring, Completion Based (RCD). If a current requirement is flagged as One Time Only, the validity period will be set to days (99 years). Any existing requirement with a validity period greater than days will be set to days. All other requirements remain as is. Open for Retraining will default to 90 days, which is consistent with current Academy behavior. This value determines the date when a completed course will open or reset for retraining. It will now also be used to determine when a new course assignment will appear on a user s Learning Plan. Currently a new requirement appears on the learning plan immediately upon assignment regardless of the due date. The default value may be configured in the Training Policies for an Academy. Initial Training Decision: The Initial Training decision specifies whether initial training will be based on a calendar date or on a number of days from assignment. The default will be X days after receiving requirement, which corresponds to how learning plan assignments currently function for New users. This will however now apply to ALL users no longer just those users defined as New User. 116

117 The current Academy parameter New Employees due within will not be modified, and the data will remain as administrators currently have it set in their learning plan assignments. This value will now be used in the above calculation as the X in X days after receiving requirement. All current requirements should be set as due in X days after receiving requirement. As a result, the default value in the database for the calendar due date will be 12/31/9999. However, if an administrator selects Course is due by when adding a new requirement, the default value which will populate in the admin interface will be 1 year from today (following the current Academy behavior of setting the initial due date). 117

118 Appendix 2 Business Rules As part of Academy 2.7 modifications, new business rules have been created to better manage existing completions, retraining, and new training. The decision diagram below shows the steps used when a learning plan assignment is added to a user or an existing learning plan assignment for a user is edited. While learning plan assignments may be added/edited for a group, the business rules are applied on a user-by-user basis. A user may receive a new learning plan assignment in one of 3 ways: 1. The user is added to the Academy for the first time 2. A new learning plan assignment is added to the user or group by the administrator 3. The user is moved into a new demographic group as a result of demographic changes made by the administrator In cases 2 and 3, the course assigned to the user may be a more stringent version of an existing course assignment. In these cases, the overriding requirement is determined following the stringency rules (see Stringency section for more details), and the business rules are then applied to that requirement. Likewise, the business rules may be re-applied to a user if 1. The User Information for that user is edited (including through data uploads) 2. The most stringent learning plan assignment already assigned to that user is edited. Regardless if it is a new learning plan assignment or a reprocess of an existing one, the first check is for a valid completion (either current or historical). A completion is considered valid if the completion date is in the time period today (the day the assignment is made) minus the validity or retraining period. Example: John Doe completed Bloodborne Pathogens on 12/15/2016, and was subsequently removed from the demographic group having this requirement. At that time, his completion is moved to the completion log table-- in other words, it was pushed to history. On 5/1/2017, John Doe was again placed in a demographic group requiring Bloodborne Pathogen training. The course is required annually (valid for 1 year). Today is 5/1/2017, minus validity of 1 year, equals 5/1/2016. His completion of 12/15/2016 falls between the dates of 5/1/2016 and 5/1/2017; therefore, his previous completion is valid. This completion is then resurrected and linked to the new requirement. 118

119 If a previous valid completion does not exist, the training will be assigned to the user as Initial Training following the initial training decision associated with the most stringent requirement. There are obvious loopholes which must be managed in these rules. For example, during the open for retraining period if a training assignment is edited by an administrator, it would not be useful to resurrect and link the previous completion, which is still valid until the next due date. Therefore, a check is made if today is in the retraining window for the user. If so, a valid completion is not resurrected and linked. Likewise, a check is made if the completion being linked to a requirement has a completion date in the retraining window for that requirement. If so, the completion is linked to the current requirement including the requirement s due date. 119

120 Example: John Doe completed Back Safety on 12/15/2017 with a due date of 12/31/2017, but the requirement was subsequently removed from his requirement list. As a result, the 12/15/2017 completion was pushed to history. John Doe is then placed in another demographic group with the same course due on calendar date 1/15/2018 (RDD). The Open for retraining period of the new requirement is 60 days. John Doe s previous completion of 12/15/2005 is in the window of retraining for this requirement (1/25/ days =~11/25/2017), so the completion is linked to this requirement and the associated due date for that completion is updated to 1/15/2018 (versus 12/31/2017). In a similar example, John Doe completed Back Safety on 8/1/2017, and the requirement was subsequently removed from his list. As a result, the 8/1/2017 completion was pushed to history. On 12/15/2017, John Doe is added back to a group requiring Back Safety on 1/15/2017. His previous completion is valid, but today is in the retraining window of the requirement. If his completion is resurrected and linked to the new requirement, it would simply get pushed back to history the following night during the nightly processing, because this course is due again (as RDD) on 1/15/2018. Therefore, to prevent this cycle of linking and pushing, the system recognizes the situation and simply creates for John Doe a new requirement with the 1/15/2018 due date, leaving his previous completion in history. Finally, in the case where neither the completion nor today are in the retraining window, the completion will get linked as expected. Here, John Doe completed the course on 8/1/2017, and the requirement was subsequently removed. On 10/2/2017, he was placed in the training group requiring Back Safety as RDD due on 1/15/2018. His completion is valid; the completion is not in the retraining window for the requirement; and today is not in the retraining window for the requirement. His previous completion is resurrected, but the previous associated due date (12/31/2017) is left in place. On the date when the new requirement should open for training (1/15/ days, or ~11/15/2017), the previous completion is pushed back to history, and a new requirement assigned to John Doe, due 1/15/

121 These examples assume an RDD assignment because RCD assignments do not have a due date associated with the requirement itself. The due date for RCDs will either be based on the user s last completion date, or if no last completion date exists or is invalid, the due date will be based on the Initial Training decision for that assignment. In all cases, an Exemption, Equivalency or other course completion function just as WBT completions. A valid equivalency may actually serve in place of a valid completion. Each of these is checked during the decision process. Note: An exemption which has expired based on its expiration date is never considered valid. Another case which may be tricky is the case of existing, overdue training. When a user is in retraining mode (meaning this is not their initial assignment for a course) and the user has become overdue for that assignment, a subsequent edit or add of learning plan assignment would place the user in Initial Training (because the previous completion is now invalid). Therefore, a flag is checked for requirements having no valid completion to determine if that requirement is a retraining situation. If so and the requirement is overdue, the due date of the requirement is not modified regardless of the learning plan assignment change. All other learning plan assignment parameters (training type, validity, test out, passing threshold, etc.) will be updated. (Please see Stringency section above regarding the override of overdue training through the use of Individual Training Assignments.) 121

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